Roses Can't Bloom In The Dark
by NakaruSoul
Summary: Roses are red, violets aren't blue, I'm somehow in RWBY, whatever shall I do? I also find this world that's being threatened to be engulfed by darkness to be very intriguing. What captivated me the most, is a beautiful rose that's fighting to grow in these dark times. And to see it mature, the darkness must be pushed back. It'll be almost impossible but it must be done. After all-
1. Welcome to Remnant

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

 **If you're reading this then I should inform you something first. This fic's is basically a rewrite and the plot is recycled from my other fic called 'Initiate Plan FUBAR Remnant' so some scenes from the other fic would be reuse. So. If you haven't read the original and don't want to be spoiled then don't read the original. If you've read it before then don't say I didn't warn you about it. By the way none of the scene from the other fic were used in this chapter.**

 **Also, the chapter didn't came out the way I had hoped it would. Maybe it's because I got lazy at the end there. I find certain aspects of it to be….lacking something. And why the hell did I write 26k words again? Curse me and my inability to write shorter stories. It's like some sort of curse or something that just keep dumping more ideas for the chapter but didn't really refine it first. Should I split it in half?**

 **Nah, too lazy. Anyho, enjoy.**

 **-0-**

I blinked, confused at the sight in front of me.

A brick wall greeted me even though it wasn't there a second ago.

I blinked again, thinking that I'm hallucinating right now.

The wall in front of me still haven't disappeared.

I thought that maybe if I blink again it would actually disappeared this time.

It didn't.

Seeing that the wall is here to stay I thought I should look around instead of just staring at the very rude wall. I crank my head left and found that instead of a wall appearing in front of me like magic, it was actually the other way around.

Apparently, I'm standing in an alleyway or something because when I look to the left, I found that the brick wall in front of me was actually a part of a building and I'm being sandwiched between two of them while standing in a narrow passage. It's rather dark here as the sun was being blocked by the buildings, casting a looming shadow over me.

I can see the figures of people walking pass the entrance to the alley, completely unaware that I'm standing in it. Some seem to be in a hurry, some were taking their time as they stroll about. My ears were able to pick up their footsteps and muddled chatter by but they're too far away for me hear what they're saying clearly. I turn to the right and saw the exact same thing but there's still no clue as to why I'm here.

Hmm, I find the entire situation quite otherworldly considering that I haven't even move an inch at all from my last position or have done anything that would cause me to arrive here.

How am I so sure that I haven't moved at all?

Because the last thing I remembered doing was taking a dump.

Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm wasn't moving around at all if I'm just sitting on the toilet seat with shit stained butt hole.

My ass feels strangely clean though.

I look down at my body to see that I'm fully clothed. I pull open my pants to see that yes, I'm wearing underwear. I found myself wearing loose white long sleeve shirt, black baggy cargo pants and gray shoes. I'm dressed pretty blandly right now, which is good. Don't want to attract any attention to myself in this new place until I can get a good idea where I am and figure out what to do from there…. Unless everyone's dressed different here, wherever here is, and I'm standing out like a sore thumb. But why do I get the feeling that I should be glad that I wasn't completely naked.

Oh hey, I still have my watch on.

Huh? That's odd. Why did it skip four hours? I'm pretty sure it's morning when I'm taking a shit but now it's afternoon. Did someone mess with my watch or had I simply forgotten what I was doing up until now. I press my fingers on my temples, trying to remember what I did during those four hours. Somewhere deep in my subconscious, it's telling me that I've done something within those four hours but somehow there's a large gap in between that time frame.

Did I just lost four hours worth of memories?

Then I guess I didn't arrive here while I was taking a dump. Thank fucking God for small miracles. It would've been awful if I have to walk around with shit stained underwear.

There's a surprising lack of panic from me considering my situation though. Maybe my mind still haven't fully grasp the fact that I'm in a completely different place without any explanation yet. I might as well take the chance to assess the situation before my mind catches up with reality and a breakdown occurs and severely hampers my thinking process.

I continue to stare at the masses of people walking pass the alley that I'm in, taking in the sight and gathering any information my eyes can tell me. There were a lot of interesting people passing by. Some that walked by looks unique in their own fashionable way that made me think they could work as a model or something, they certainly have to looks for it too. The others were just ordinary, like really ordinary. So ordinary that they are nothing more than black silhouettes to my eyes unless I focus on them.

I have a feeling that they wouldn't be out of place as background characters in an Anime. Judging by the look of their clothes on the ones that I'm focusing on. What I'm wearing right now won't be considered out of place and could easily blend in with them….I hope. Surely I won't be noticed so easily with what I'm wearing and could be passed off as another background character right? I mean, it's not like I have a god damn cape to draw people's attention like that girl that just walked by. Who the fuck wears capes in public anyway? A serious case of chuunibyou? Or am I in the weird part of Japan where all the crazy happen on in a daily basis.

Where the hell am I anyway? I shift my sight to the buildings in front of me. The designs look different than the ones I'm used to seeing. They don't look Japanese, that's for sure. They look western or something but what do I know, it's not like I go out of my way to check the building designs on the internet.

A loud roaring sound flew by overhead. It sounded like an airplane or something similar and I snap my head up just in time to catch a glimpse of a giant metal contraption flew by, blocking out the sky like a great devourer trying to eat the earth. Then it flew away, leaving behind a bright blue, cloudless sky for me to gaze at.

My jaws dropped at the sight of what I presume to be an airship.

Since when did we humans create giant fucking metal airships that look like a discount Star Trek transport ship!? We still haven't found a solution for world hunger for fuck sakes but we somehow have the resources to create airships that look like it came straight out of a low budget sci fi movie. It has flappers for fuck sakes! Who the hell needs flappers in a god damn airship! While I get that it may be use for steering or altitude purposes but what happens when someone shot one of them down? The pilot loose control and crashes!?

God damn it Government! If you're gonna ignore the poor and starving at least have the decency to make it look cooler! The damn thing looked like it's meant for a web series!

Just as I was ranting in my head I caught something odd moving in my peripheral vision. My head turn around and I caught sight of a girl. I was instantly mesmerized by the sight. Well, if you wanna know, she pretty, got all the right curves in the right places and decent sized mounts but her looks were not what captivated me.

I'm currently staring at her ass right now but that is also not what caught my attention. It was what's above her ass that seem so interesting to me.

There was a tail there. A round, bushy tail that seem to be twitching every so often.

I wanna pet it. I wanna pet it so badly.

I blinked and continue to watch the girl's oh so fluffy looking tail in trance, fighting against the voices whispering inside my head to fondle the round fluffiness of adorableness until she walk out of sight. Once she's gone I shook my head to get rid of the urge to pet said bushy tail, noting that the voice is slowly subsiding before thinking that I must be seeing things right now because unless humans have already evolved to the point where we need animal appendages to survive, I seriously doubt what I saw just now was real.

That thought got debunked the moment I saw another person walked by and he had bunny ears. I wanted to convince myself that he was wearing fakes ones but they were moving on their own, reacting to the sounds around him. I slowly raise my hand to my face, flex my fingers before placing them together and slap myself as hard as I could.

"Ow!" I promptly rule out dreaming in my current predicament. So….hallucinating then?

Hmm, I don't remember eating any strange mushroom. Then again, I did loose four hours worth of memories. I quickly did a double check to see if I had double in size like a certain Italian plumber created by Japanese people, who speaks English and looks like a Mexican that's addicted to mushrooms and hallucinating about saving Princesses in strange kingdoms and endangering turtles while their father tries to negotiate with said Princess in order to save his people only to be interrupted by said plumber and sent into a fiery death in molten lava.

I did not.

Shame, would've been cool. But I did feel that something's off though…..oh well, guess I'll never find out what it was.

Now that I think about it, this situation I'm in seems familiar to me somehow….now where have I see- That's right! Self inserts fanfictons!

I've read about this type of situations plenty of times before. Guy get send into anime world, guy freaks out for one episode or chapter before mysteriously getting their shit together then tires to befriend main cast and join them in their adventure while quite possibly finding romance along the way because it's totally impossible for them to find it in real life. There are three ways for the self insert to do things. Follow the storyline, changing things for his liking or FUBAR the shit out of it.

Sounds simple enough to do, only problem is….what world did I get sent into? Hmm, strange looking airships, people walking around that look like they belong in the model industry and wearing flashy looking clothes, background characters that look like black silhouettes from a distance and people with animal appendages…. Now where have I seen all of these before?

Oh I know! I could just search the net for it.

With that in mind, I pulled out my phone from my pocket and saw the most frightening thing that I've ever bore witnessed to in my short and uneventful life.

No internet connection.

The shock from the revelation kick started something in my brain and I could feel the waves of panic, confusion and horror that was taking it's time to build up and creeping out from the deepest part of my mind to suddenly gain new momentum. It poured out of whatever pit that I kept them in, like the creatures of hell escaping from their domain, shutting down all thought process in my mind.

Oh great, here comes the breakdown.

I fell onto my knees and shouted. "FFFFFFFFFFFFF-"

While my mind was doing it's thing, breaking down all the information inside that I've gathered so far and trying to process them and silently accepting the fact that I'm no longer in my world. The subconscious part of the brain find itself realising something crucial about my way of thinking about the mess that I'm in right now. I'm actually more worried that I no longer have access to the internet than finding myself in in another world. I sure have my priorities straight.

Then again, I'm in a different world. Of course there's no internet here or maybe there is but my phone is not equipped with the gizmos to connect to it. Either way, I'm a very sad man now.

You would think that finding yourself in a different world would get more reaction than just a simple WTF but in reality, you don't. Like all human beings from the twenty first century whose minds are already hoping for something interesting to happen in their already fucked up lives, you adapt with time. I just so happen to have the ability to adapt at a frightening pace. Perks of being a gamer I suppose, being able to keep calm in the most absurd situations. Also, I'm a very chill dude but I suspect I became that way because I spending years glued to a screen and not having any social contact in real life to remind me that other people are actually important in someway and made me feel apathy to mostly everything besides my family….and games.

Sure I'd miss my home and family but meh, they'll live without me just fine until I find a way back. Dad always said to me 'Son, there comes a time where a man must leave everything they know and love behind and follow the path set for them. With that said, your current path is to buy a pack of beer at the supermarket for me so get your ass outta your chair and get your butt moving. It's my turn to use the computer now.' Mum would on the other hand would say, 'Why can't you be like most guys and follow your libido so that you can make me a granny already. You're already twenty for Christ's sake. All your friends are already posting baby pictures on their Facebook.'

I have awesome parents. Anyway, they probably would think that I'm off to follow my dreams or some shit and support me one hundred percent, even if I never call back and might possibly be dead. Oh well, at least I have siblings that could grant mother her wish to become a grandmother. Right now I have to focus on surviving in this world and I don't even know what world I'm in. There's so many that had animal human hybrids that I've lost count of it.

Suddenly, all that panic and trepidation just vanished without a trace. Odd. Oh well, at least I can focus on the present now.

First things first when it comes to new places. Time to explore the heck out of it. Hopefully, one of the dimension traveling rules applies in this situation and everyone speaks English for no reason other than for convenience. Hopefully. If not then I can always pretend to be mute or deaf, or maybe just play the retard and hope that people won't come near me until I learn the language.

I push myself up from the ground and pat the dirt off my pants before turning towards the nearest exit while noting that no one seem to care about my recent shouting just now and comes to investigate the disturbance. It's the same as saying that I could have been stabbed in that dark, damp alley, shouting at the top of my lungs for help and no one would give a damn. Nice to know that the people are so caring in this world. Then again, if one random guy started swearing like he had just stepped on a Lego brick in the middle of some dark, creepy alley, I would stay away from that place too so I can't really fault them.

Once I walked out into the open I could feel the warn, soothing rays of the sunlight making contact with my skin. It's like a reminder that even when all hope seems lost and everything seem to be submerged in darkness, there would always be light after the dark.

I hated the sun immediately. It burns my skin like acid would and I could feel myself being weaken like a vampire in the stori- Yeah, I'm totally exaggerating right now. Being stuck indoors for too long tends to do that to you when you're force out into the sun.

I squint my eyes as the light suddenly assaulted my vision, temporarily robbing me of my sight until my eyes got used to the brightness. Once I blinked the black spots away and regain my vision. I was immediately impressed by the sights. I stopped in the middle of the street, eyes surveying the place with wonder shining in my eyes like a tourist on a trip.

I seem to have walked into some of some sort shopping place. Or maybe just a part of town or city where people tend to hang out since this place is blooming with them. So many people….so annoying. I think we need a plague. Do they have plagues in this world?

Rows and rows of buildings are all perfectly lined up on both my sides, each had their own store sign placed proudly above their entrance. They were displaying different products on their store window, ranging from clothing, food, jewelery, weapons, etc.

People of all races were roaming about, parents had their kids with them, holding hands or giving them piggyback rides, couples were holding hands and getting snugly with each other, some others walk alone while holding shopping bags. There were a few that had weapons on them or at least I assume they were weapons, can't really tell. I spend a few minutes watching the crowd, keeping my legs moving because just staying at one place would draw attention to myself. Crowd watching is one of the things that I was subconsciously learned due to all the hours I wasted while sitting on a bench whenever I was dragged out for a shopping spree by my sister, you know, as a glorified bag carrier. If you watch carefully, you can notice subtle things that you normally won't pick up.

I noticed that the humans tend to avoid the animal hybrids for some reason. The humans outnumbered the hybrids here or maybe I'm at the part of town where the hybrids rarely go to. Anyway, some of the human adults were giving mean glares towards the hybrids direction. I saw a mother pulled their kid away from the incoming hybrid and whisper something into their ears. Judging by the twitch of the (Cat?)girl's ear that just walked passed, she had undoubtedly heard what the mother just said and judging by the frown marrying her face, I doubt it's anything good.

Ha, racism. It exist no matter what world you're in. Ah~ humans, they never change.

Anyway, I wonder why the two races aren't getting along. Is it because they have appendages that could fill a person's cuteness meter with relative ease? But from the glares and bad mouthing, I think not. The smell? I walk pass someone with a dog's tail and chose the exact moment to breath in, not loudly or anything, just inhaling. Nope, no weird smell coming from them. So I guess something happened between the two races then? Did the humans get jealous of them because they have extra parts and they had a war about it? Sounds about right, humans are always jealous of one thing or the other and start stupid shit for just for the heck of it.

Then I noticed another thing about the people here. Aside from everyone looking like they could all work in a model industry, they are all so freaking tall. I mean I'm six feet tall for Christ's sake and yet everyone is like a head or a head and a half taller than me. Am I in a world of giants?

Just as I had that thought I walked passed a mirror shop which just so happen to have a large full body mirror placed out on the display window and I got a quick glance of myself at the corner of my eye when I pass by.

I froze mid-step, my feet dangling in the air as my heart seem to sunk down to my stomach like the titanic. My neck slowly crank to the side, squeaking like a rusted gear that badly needed to be oiled. My eyes took in the sight of a young male, staring right at me with one of his leg hanging in the air while his face was frozen with confusion clearly present and eyes widen to a considerable degree. Short spiky black hair, blue eyes, wearing the same thing I am but considerably shorter than six feet.

I let my feet down and march towards the mirror before peering into it.

D-did I de-aged? Holy shit, I look fifteen! No wonder why everyone's so tall right now. I'm probably a hundred and sixty cm or something. Or maybe I did eat a weird mushroom and shrunk instead of growing bigger. Mario, you lied to me.

I continue to stare, not moving, not even a twitch, just like a Weeping Angel that was spotted, as my brain temporally shuts down and rebooted just so it had more processing power to get over the fact that I look fifteen again. Then, there was a strange sensation that seem to be pushing down the shock and confusion that I'm feeling before they disappeared completely. I blinked, my mind no longer in overdrive and I somehow had already accepted the fact that I'm younger now before I started walking by the side of the shops, pretending to be window shopping. I don't like getting weird looks after all.

I'm accepting this rather well all things considered. Then again, there's that strange, unnatural shock suppression I just experienced twice in a row. Unless of course something messed with my mind when I was transported here and I lost the ability to freak out over mind shattering things. If I did then good I guess? No need to start screaming like a spider just landed on my face while I'm in the middle of the street after all. Still, I should feel worried that I'm not freaking out about finding myself in another world thingy but yet I can't. It's almost like something at the back of my mind is preventing me from feeling it, suppressing it maybe.

*Gasp* it's kinda like Gamer's mind skill from those Gamer fanfictions! Do I have it!?

"Stats." I muttered under my breath and waited, trying to hold in my excitement as I wait for some sort of pop up to appear. A few seconds passed by in anticipation but nothing happened. "Inventory, skills, options." I tried again.

Nope, nothing appeared. Oh well, time to cross bullshit powers out of the list I suppose. I still haven't figure out where I am yet. Where am I going anyway? Do I keep walking until something interesting happen? Usually Self inserts are suppose to be dropped near the main cast or something so that they can befriend them or whatever, or dropped near the villain group to be a baddie. What am I suppose to be looking for in this heavily populated area? A terrorist attack? I've been walking for a while now and none of these places seem familiar at all. There's something that looks remotely like a cafe a few feet in front of me though. Can I say that I got lost when I'm already lost in the first place?

 _Come on, give me a sign for something at least._ I whined mentally, not liking the feeling of not having a clear objective. Must have been years of gaming hardwiring my brain to think this way. I never do things without a clear objective before, always being told what to do and complete them asap and get on the next one. Maybe that's why I find sandbox games a bit too time wasting. So many things to do, so little time, causing me to take a nap instead.

Just as I asked for a sign, the glass door to the cafe opened just as I was about to walk past it, causing me to halt in my steps or I'll bump into the person walking out with a light skip in her steps. She seem to be in a good mood since she was actively ignoring everything around her while a bright smile on her face.

Oh hey, it's that girl with the cape again. Her hood was covering the rest of her face though. Now that I got a better look at her, it's more of a cloak rather than a cape. A bright white cloak. Hmm, where have I seen that before?

The girl just skip away without even noticing me while humming to herself. She was clutching a paper bag to her chest like it's some sort of treasure, seemingly lost in her own world. I turn back to look at the cafe the she walked out from and saw a help wanted sign plastered on the window. I raise a brow at the sign before tilting my head up to read the cafe's name.

"Cookie Heaven?" I said out loud.

The cafe is a two story building painted bright blue with potted plants placed on both sides of the door for decoration. The store's wooden sign was right above the door and had drawings of clouds decorating it. Thinking of cookies made my hungry and my hunger made me realise something crucial. I pat my pockets for anything that resembling a wallet but found none. Well shit, I'm broke as fuck in this world. Oh well, it's not like they would accept earth's currency anyway.

Then another thought hit me, I'm homeless as well aren't I?

I look back at the help wanted sign and read the details. Hm, Full time or part time, looking for a waiter or waitress or someone to man the counter, or an able cook, fifteen lien per hour. Is lien the currency in this world? I thought about whether or not I should work here before simply shrugging. "Well, I did ask for a sign. And a man's gotta eat." I murmured as I walk closer towards the cafe.

I stopped near the window and peer into it to see what the interior looks like.

The insides are well lit by the cloud shaped ceiling lamps, it's walls were painted light blue and had clouds here and there to continue with the heaven theme. There are wooden tables and chairs placed around in an orderly fashion. Paintings were hung on the walls, some plants and other things were decorating the place to make it seem less empty. If I look closely, I could see that there's a bar at the far end of the building and the counter was right next to it. There's also a cake display cabinet filled with various baked good. The entire place looks and feels homely, giving off a relaxing atmosphere for those who simply wants to enjoy their time there. So far I counted a few people inside and one was behind the counter.

"It's not one of those lifestyle cafe is it?" I asked myself. This place kinda reminds me of 'Secret Recipe' back home, except for the heaven theme. You can go there and enjoy your afternoon eating cakes, drinking coffee and immerse yourself in there, seemingly forgetting all your real life problems.

Hmm, working as a waiter or behind the counter eh? I have plenty experience for both of those. I suppose I should thank my grandparents for that since they own their own cafe. And being their grandson means that I am _obliged_ to help them whenever there's too many customers or when one of the worker bailed because he or she wasn't expecting that much customers and boy do they bail a lot too. Traitors the lot of them. And I do everything without getting paid at all, at least they get cash at the end of the day.

Taking a deep breath, I push open the glass door and step inside. There was a ringing sound and I look up to see a bell there. My nose was immediately assaulted by the aroma of baked goods while my body felt the cool air wash over me, most likely because of an air conditioner inside.

I continue to walk in, some curious heads turn to see who had entered and quickly turn back to their business once their curiosity was satisfied. I stride in with my eyes darting around, taking in more of the interior design that I couldn't see from outside the window.

I noticed that there was a beautiful middle aged lady that's keeping her eyes on me. She has green hair tied into a ponytail, which doesn't look bad at all for some reason even though it would absolutely look weird or get a few odd stares back in my world but here, it fits her perfectly. Her emerald green eyes that shone with wisdom beyond her age(not that I know how old she was) were keeping their gaze on me. I would normally think that her eye colour is unnatural and could be contact lens but after the crowd watching that I had just before, I noticed that everyone's eye colour is different here. Did I mentioned that everyone here has looks that would make models back in my world look like ordinary people? Because they totally have the looks that would make the models back home want to weep in jealousy.

She's wearing a loose light green blouse with white spotted patterns, tight fitted black pants and green sneakers. This also brought up something that I've noticed during my crowd watching, everyone seem to be dressed in some sort of colour theme. It's almost like the entire street was filled with walking rainbows.

Oh yeah, the woman's eyes never left me ever since I came in. Could it be that she's checking me out? Is my manly charm so irresistible that even older ladies would fall for me even though I look so much younger than her? Nah, I'm kidding. She's the one manning the wooden counter and is most likely waiting for me to walk up there and order something.

"Are you going to order something or are you just going to continue stare at me?" she said with a smirk once I got stop in front of the counter, emerald eyes meet blue ones as she spoke with a teasing tone in her voice.

I just pouted at her before rubbing the back of my neck as I started thinking of what to say to get the job. I wonder if I'm going to be interviewed first, if so what should I say? It's not like I have an identity in this world and that by itself would raise plenty of questions. Oh fuck it, I'll just wing it like always whenever I get into trouble. It has never failed me before and I'm willing to bet it won't fail me now.

I let my hand down to my side and spoke up "I saw the sign outside the cafe and wonder if I could get a job here. Do I have to speak to the manager about it?"

She raise an eyebrow at me as she lean over on the counter with an elbow while her other arm was resting on top of it. "You're talking to her right now." she told me before giving me a once over. "You look rather well off. What do you need a job for? Need the extra cash to buy something that caught your fancy? Wanting to buy a gift for your special someone?" she asked with a grin as she move her eyebrows up and down repeatedly.

My mind pause for a split second to think of an excuse. But there's something worrying me. Can she tell if someone's lying? There are plenty of those people who can do that. So I suppose it's better to play it safe then and tell half truths instead.

"Actually, I lost everything and now I'm broke and homeless. So right now I'm currently looking for a job so that I don't starve." I answered her, keeping my voice blank. Well, it's the truth after all. I was ripped away from my home and ended up here and thus it could be counted as losing everything. I just said it in a way that she would think that some freakish accident happened, causing me to lose everything.

The lady just gave me a skeptical look. "You don't sound like someone who had just lost everything."

"Eh, a man's gotta eat. Whining and bitching won't get any food on my plate any quicker." I shrugged.

"Very funny kid. If you really want a job here then I have a few questions to ask." she rolled her eyes, apparently thinking that I was only joking about losing everything. To be fair, I was rather nonchalant about the whole sent to another universe thing. The lady point her thumb behind her towards the doorless doorway, I could tell that it's the kitchen from here judging by all the cooking appliances there that I could see. "Go wait in the back, I'll get to you as soon as I can."

I did a lazy salute "Yes ma'am." and promptly waltz right in through the only entrance I could find at the side of the bar and entered the kitchen. Well, that went well. Hope I can bullshit my way into getting this job though. It would be perfect for my current skill set.

By the way, the way she talks kinda reminds me of a former delinquent turned mother that never really lose her way of speaking her the olden days. It wouldn't be out of place if she had a cigarette box sticking out of her breast pocket and is smoking one right now.

I should be able to survive working here. Hell, I can cook, bake, clean and do basically everything a housewife could, sans giving birth, and I could do them with extreme efficiency. I'm been called one of those…. whatchamacallit again…. Oh right, a househusband. Not sure when I became like that though. I had siblings to look after and my parents aren't always home. Even though I always told the to clean up after themselves they didn't and would leave a mess. I had to cook for ourselves because I'm already sick of eating takeouts and the non healthy food. My parents would count on me to look after them and the house so I learned all of those out of necessity and my siblings won't even cooperate and make things harder than it should be and-

Mother of conspiracies! It was Mum's plan all along! If she manage to turn me into a househusband then I would do her chores for her even though she was suppose to be the one to do it! No wonder why she seemed so happy when I announced that I would be taking over the cooking when I was still a naive teen.

I walked into the kitchen and took a look around. The first thing I noticed is that there's no one here at all. Shouldn't there be someone doing the cooking or washing? The second thing I noticed is that the layout resembles a restaurant kitchen that comes with it's own prep-area, storage, dishwash area, pickup and cookline. All the appliances seem to be at tip top shape too. They looked almost brand new and I wouldn't be able to tell that they had been used before if it wasn't for all the ingredients sprawled all over the prep-area and the dirtied pans and pots in the washing area.

But where are all the other workers though? Haven't even seen a single soul around here. Shouldn't they be cooking for the customers? When I came in they all already have food on their tables and is taking their time to eat them. Though it's mostly just cakes and cookies instead of a real meal so I'm guessing that it's tea time? If it was me, I would have already gobbled the entire cake up like the greedy bastard I am and ordered seconds….or I could just bake it myself and stuff the entire thing into my mouth before staring into the wall as I regret my decision.

The sound of foot steps caught my attention as I was looking around the kitchen. I turn around to see the green haired lady walking in. She gesture for me to go sit at one of the wooden chairs by the prep-area before talking a seat herself. With both of us now seated and facing each other with a long metal table between us, she place her elbows on it while resting her chin on her entwined fingers. She was looking me over with a scrutinizing gaze as I sat perfectly still and not showing any emotions on my face, because I find being stared at rather amusing for some reason.

"Kid, you have a really bad poker face." the lady deadpanned before narrowing her eyes at me. "I can't tell if you're trying be serious and not laughing or if you're having a seizure. But with what you look like right now, I'm wouldn't be surprised if your dong was caught in your zipper." She let out a snort in amusement before regarding me seriously. "At least try to be serious if you want to get a job here."

"But being serious is just so hard." I whined childishly. It just doesn't feel right after spending so many years of not really giving a damn about things. In response, she gave me a stare that reminded me of my very crossed mother when I did something wrong when I was younger and I immediately sat up straight and all form of amusement quickly left my face.

She gave a satisfied nod before the questions started firing. "So, you looking for a part time job then?"

"Actually, I'm talking about full time." I answered, causing her to raise a brow at me.

"Kid, don't you have school to go to? You aren't playing hooky now are you?" she narrowed her eyes dangerously at me.

Ah, right. So schools are a thing here. "I've never been to one before.(Not in this world anyway)" I honestly replied and gave her my best innocent looking face. Obviously it was not very good since the lady just look at me with skepticism adorning her face.

"So I'm guessing that you were home taught? Are your parents Huntsmen or something?" She asked instead of pressing on with why the heck I've never been to school in the first place. She must have been very considerate. Wait, what was it that she said?

"Huntsmen? Why do they have to be Huntsmen for me to be home taught?" I asked in a very curious fashion, like a child that had just discovered his father's stash of playboy and was wondering why the fuck are the women in there naked.

The green haired lady just blinked before she started to explain to me. Apparently if your parents are Huntsmen and their children wanted to became one too then they are allowed to train them themselves just as long as they don't neglect to teach them the school's curriculum that they were informed of or they could hire a private tutor to do it for them.

"So that way you can learn your family's fighting style so that you would have another advantage against the Grimms and not fall behind on your studies." she finishes.

Hold on. Grimms? I've heard that term before, where was it again? So far I've seen giant low budget Star Trek ripoff airships, animal people, people wearing colour themes, money called Lien and now I've learned that there are people becoming Huntsmen and hunting Grimms.

Mix everything together and you get RWBY. Oh, RWBY. No wonder why the term Grimm seems so familiar somehow…. Oh shit, RWBY. That means the world is flooded with soulless creatures of destruction that is attracted to negative emotions like a cat is to catnip. Speaking of catnip, I should buy some just in case I met Blake by accident. Crap, she's waiting for an answer.

"Well, they're not and who says I want to be a Huntsmen in the future?" I answer her question with another question. I'll need to think of how to survive against a Grimm in the future if I ever encounter one but first things first, getting the job. I've never done a job interview before so I have no idea how this will turn out.

"Oh? Then what do you want to be in the future?" she asked with a smile, somehow that smile seems to be one of relief. Anyway, I should be thankful that she didn't ask anymore about my parents. But I wonder why she would be relief about that. Is she the kind of person that doesn't want people recklessly putting their lives on the line?

She don't have to worry about me getting myself killed anytime soon. I'm not reckless enough to go fighting against a giant black-ish monster that came out of a children's nightmare. Hell, I'm not sure if I could even do any damage at all to those things the way I am right now. What am I suppose to do? Talk them to death?

"Not starving." I answer her with deadpanned and pat my stomach. "Which I'm currently feeling right now."

The lady sweatdropped and let her hands down. "Where are you parents kid?" Ah, so she finally asked about them.

"Gone." I answered, not even a trace of lie in my word since it's technically true that they're gone right now. The lady raise an eyebrow, her face still showing signs of skepticism. She's probably wonder what the fuck is wrong with the kid in front of her. Not that I blame her mind you. I'd be wondering what the fuck is wrong with me too.

The lady put on an unamused look on her face as she stare at me for a few seconds. Her eyes seemingly bore into mine before her expression soften and I heard her sigh. She ask another question. "Where do you live?"

"The nearest cardboard box I could find." I answered without missing a beat. "I'm pretty sure I've already told you I was broke and homeless."

The lady close her eyes as she lean back on her chair, making the wood creek as she place a hand over her forehead to massage her temples. "Either you're serious about the losing everything part or you're a very good liar." She let her hand down to look at me again. "You don't even look remotely like a person that had lost everything and yet I can't tell if you're lying your ass off or not."

"What can I say, you're not yourself when you're hungry." I smiled as I cross my arms in front of me.

"Alright fine, let's say that you really are broke and homeless, do you even have any experience in working in a cafe?" the lady place her elbow back on the table and rest her cheek against her fist.

"Yep." I said, popping the 'P' with a voice of confidence. I'm the one making the drinks in my grandparents cafe so I could help out in the bar. More often than not I would mix things together to see if they would taste good. And more often than not I would ended up barfing into the toilet bowl because of an upset stomach. It was worth it. I can help with the cooking and baking too if she allows it.

"Huh, I didn't expect that. You look like someone who would sit on their asses all day instead of doing anything productive." she told me in genuine surprise.

"Hey!" I utter out in annoyance, feeling slightly offended. Still, what she said was mostly true but it still hurts when she says it damn it. "I totally can do a lot of things. I can even cook, bake and make drinks." I stated with a huff.

The lady let out a snort before shaking her head with a smile. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say. Most of the guys I've hired before all claimed that they are experienced but are pretty much useless after I hired them. Then I had to waste precious time teaching them, even though they said they already knew how to do them. They all ran away once they realise that there would be hordes of customers coming once in a while."

I see that she has the same problem with runaway helpers too. At least they have the option to run away when their working at my grandparents cafe. I'm not that lucky at all since I'm their kin therefore running away isn't an option for me.

"At least let me prove it." I pleaded with a pout.

She gave me a contemplating look before she glace around the kitchen. When her eyes stopped at the oven she nodded to herself and stood up, pushing the chair away with her leg and gesture me to stand too. "Alright then, you get one chance to impress me. I need a new batch of chocolate chip cookies anyway. Might as well see if you really can do it or if you're just full of hot air. 'Sides, even if you are lying I can still hire you as a waiter or something. Unless you can't even deliver drinks of course then I have no need for you here."

I hop up and saluted with a grin. "Yes Ma'am."

 **-0-**

Morning came by way too fast as the sun did it's job and shone past the window just so it could assault my face as I lay in my newly acquired bed. I'll say it again, I hate the sun. Thankfully, I was already awake and expecting it and closed my eyes as soon as the light shot past the curtain, otherwise I would have been cursing up a storm the moment the big, burning, yellow ball of fuck you decided to attack my eyes with it's radiant luster of blindness.

I woke up way earlier than intended but decided to stay in bed as I think about my life now. I never expected to be transported into another world, let alone one as dangerous as RWBY. Then again, no one really expects themselves to suddenly pop into another dimension without any explanation. There's still the odd shock suppression that I've been getting for a while now. It feels odd, not panicking about my situation.

Anyway, I got hired rather quickly right after my employer, May Oliver, whom I call Boss now, got a taste of my cookie. In fact she skipped all the other questions she had in store and immediately toss me a white apron before telling me that I'm hired effective immediately and tells me to start making more of those cookies. She didn't even care whether or not that I might be a runaway or a criminal just as long as I don't bring trouble to her store. Heck, she even gave me a room upstairs all for myself to use. Turns out the second floor of the cafe is her home. The room was rather dusty when I first entered since it was unused for so long but I cleaned it up as much as I can before sleeping there.

I've also learned that she had been working on her own since all the workers that she had hired before ran away like cowards that they are because they can't handle the pressure of rush hours. My respect for the Boss was at an all time high since she was able to survive it and she had done it all on her own too for so many years too. Rush hours are a bitch to handle even when you have a lot of employees running around.

But it's too easy. There's gotta be a catch somewhere. Oh well, no point in thinking about that. Now I have a job secured so I can earn mone- I mean lien and a place to live so I don't have to find any benches to sleep on, I guess I just have survive until I can find a way to go home.

Sure, I can choose to fight monsters made out of darkness like all the other self inserts that ever came to the RWBY verse like it's a normal thing to even consider. Then I'll be nothing more than Grimm food in a span of a few seconds. I'm not suicidal, I know my limits on what I can and can't do and fighting against Grimms is something I can't do. What the hell is wrong with all the other self inserts anyway. They don't even have any prior training or anything and when they find themselves in the RWBY verse they were like, 'hey, I'm going join the main casts and fight the Grimms like real heroes do.' like the thought of possible death doesn't even faze them. Their plot armor can't protect them forever, they should know that. The road to an early grave is filled with optimism and ignorance I suppose.

But knowing my luck and the luck of all self inserts for that matter. I'm bound to find trouble sooner or later. Maybe I should stay indoors as much as possible and avoid meeting any of the main casts.

With a tired sign escaping my lips, I continue to lay on the soft, comfy mattress with my eyes closed, content to just laze my life away. The sound of birds chirping started to fill the air and I could hear quite a few people outside, already awake and moving around.

While listening to the melodious chirping of the birds outside a thought strike me. I wonder if the birds outside are actually having an epic rap battle but it sounded like chirps to the human ears. If so then it must have been an intense one seeing that they have a full crowd of other birds cheering. Hmm, I wonder who's winning.

"Hey kid! Get your ass up and down here already!" I heard the boss shouted out. Looks like it's time to start working. Hope Remnant is ready for shitload of new food and drinks being introduced into the world.

 **-0-**

There had been a ridiculous rush of customers coming in the morning. The line to the counter was so long that they even had to wait outside and all of them seem to be the impatient type. Either that or they're just grumpy without their morning coffee. Was this place so popular that it receives this many customers on a daily biases? If so then how come no one else want's to work here? They could have been paid a lot just for surviving a rush hour. And how on eart- I mean Remnant does the boss even handle all those people on her own? Heck, no wonder why the workers ran away. It's like facing a never ending horde of zombies that's after your coffee instead of brains.

"Order up! Three espressos, two breakfast sets, five cups of coffee and ten of those specials that you've made! I want it done in fifteen minutes so get your ass moving!" I heard boss shouted from the counter as I was busy preparing meals in the kitchen.

Hmm, maybe the other reason why they ran away was because Boss is such a slave driver. Great, now I have to run over to the bar and make those drinks. But I have to prep the breakfast sets first or I'll have to run back here. Shit, ever since one of the customers tasted one of those coffee brew that I've made, the knowledge of it's existence started spreading like wildfire. it's rather popular for some reason and everyone keeps ordering it like they never tasted anything like it before. I should have known not to make it in the first place if this was the result. I'm happy that people like it but it's just so time consuming to make.

I turn off the stove and place the fried eggs on the plates that had already been arranged neatly with french toasts and sausages. I quickly took the two plates of breakfast set and place them at the pickup area and ring the small bell placed there to get the attention of the waiter or waitress, in this case it would be the Boss since we're woefully understaffed right now. Again, my respect for the woman increase significantly if she's able to handle all of this on her own for so many years without even complaining.

Welp, time to get to the bar and make those drinks. The number of zombie customers doesn't seem to be decreasing anytime soon and the cafe had only been opened for an hour too. Just your typical monday I suppose.

 **-0-**

I'm bored now.

It's like two in the afternoon and lunch hour had already passed. Man, I thought the morning rush was heretic but lunch hour took everything to a whole new level. I can't wait to see what dinnertime is like. Yes, you can hear the sarcasm dripping in my voice as I said that.

Thankfully, now it's just a slow trickle of customers coming in every once in a while for a drink or to grab a bite. Right now the cafe's empty so I'm pretty much free now. Boss had deemed me competent enough to look after the cafe on my own and head out to buy more ingredients since we're running out. One guy managed to eat twenty plates of food all on his own. I don't think eat is the right word for it, it's more like he inhaled it all in the span of a few minutes.

By the way, there's a uniform for the workers here. Now I'm wearing a loose white short sleeve dress shirt, loose black dress pants, fancy looking black shoes and a blue apron that has the cafe's name etched onto it. I like loose clothing, it's lets more air go through it and I don't really like the feeling of the clothes hugging my frame when I'm wearing fit ones.

Oh, I also found out that today's a sunday, not monday. So not looking forward to tomorrow.

I slump listlessly onto the counter face first and let out a bored sign. I didn't just spend the time being idle, I still need to find out more about this word after all. I would eavesdrop on the customers to get a grasp on the situation going on in the world right now. The things I hear….sheesh, it's like listening to housewives complain about how badly they have it but didn't even lift a finger to change it. Humans muttering about those 'Damn animals', Faunus' complaining about being mistreated, the number of Grimms never seem to be decreasing, no end to world suffering, the young dying early, small villages outside the walls being destroyed, yada yada yada.

Nothing useful ever came up though. If I remember correctly the Grimms _eats_ negative emotions or are _born_ from them. And it's suppose to be public knowledge too but did anyone to anything to change the negativity everyone's feeling? Nope. They were like, maybe we should wait for the chosen one to come save our sorry asses and change our views. And some point in the future Ruby _Rose_ to the rescue. I have no idea what point of time I am in right now. Maybe Ruby is already in Beacon, starting her adventure as a student there before all shit goes down because of Cinder. Maybe she isn't born yet. There's no point of thinking about it too much. I'm just a gamer, what am I suppose to do to help? Whack the Grimms to death with my keyboard?

I'll just stick to what I do best and bake some cookies for the little girl if she ever comes over. She deserves it after all.

Maybe instead of waiting for a miracle, the humans should learn how to stop treating the Faunus like shit so that the Grimms wouldn't appeared so often. But nooooo, we just have to be jealous of their extra appendages and treat them differently because of it. I wonder how long before a Remnant version of Hitler would appear and cause a holocaust. That would be interesting.

Eh, why should I care. This is not my world anyway, even if it is, everyone can go fuck themselves if they wanted to see the end of the world so badly. I probably won't live long enough to see the result of humanity fucking itself to an irreparable state and into extinction anyway.

At least there isn't any assholes with big egos this time around like the one that came by this morning. I swear he's like a stereotype bully or something. He tried to be all intimidating and shit when he's talking to me. How cute. I bet he had never faced the synchronized period of all the females in his household before. The though itself sends shivers down my spine. He still have a long way to go if he ever wants to scare me, armed or not.

The sound a bell ringing informed me that someone just opened the front door and I lazily tilt my head up from the counter to see who it was. I raise an eyebrow at the familiar figure that walked in. It's the girl that almost bumped into me when she walked out of the cafe. She still had the same white cloak on but her hood was pulled down this tim- What the heck!? Ruby!? I've met one of the main characters already!? No wait! Ruby uses a red cloak not white. Then who's this?

"Hey Aunt May, I'm bac- who are you?" she called out cheerfully but stopped short when she saw me behind the counter.

I push myself up from my slouching and stare at her with carefully hidden confusion as she walk closer to the counter.

In front of me is a young, silver-eyed girl with black hair that has red trimmings and a pale-white complexion. I gave her outfit a once-over, she's dressed in a white blouse, a white waist cincher with red lacing, a red skirt with red trimmings and white boots. Basically it's a white version of Ruby instead of red. I kinda wonder how she would clean her outfit if it ever gets dirty.

Her black and red hair is slightly longer than Ruby's and her side bangs are framing her face. There's also a lock of hair standing up on it's on like some sort of antenna or ahoge in animes. She has a star shaped pin holding her white cloak to her shirt and she wore a belt that has white ammo pouches on them. Sizing her up I found out that she's half a head shorter than me.

She also has an air around her that just screams 'I'm one of the main characters.' and this leads to a question, to avoid or not to avoid. I'm sure sooner or later I'll be drag into the plot or something. Meh, I'll just see how it'll go for now.

Then an idle thought hit me. What are you suppose to be? A futuristic little red riding hood that hunts the wolves instead of the other way around? But wait, you're wearing white so I guess they can't get the copyrights for little red riding hood so they use a white one instead? Oh well, guess I should answer her question now.

"Oh, I'm nobody important." I answer her with a lazy smile once she got close enough as I place my elbow on top of the counter and rest my chin on my palm. I stare into her eyes and continue, "So whaddya want to order kiddo?" I asked.

"Hey! I'm not a kid, besides you look like you're same age as me!" she replied with a pout, taking offense at being called a kid as she stop in front of the counter.

"I'm actually way older than I look kid, I'm just one of those who tend to look young no matter how many years has passed." I grinned as I watch her comically reel back with shock appearing on her face.

"No way." she voice out in awe and disbelief. "You're not joking are you?" her antenna of a hair suddenly shot up in surprise before flopping back down. Heh, amusing…..is she a Faunus?

"Of course I am. You really shouldn't believe strange things people say to you ya know." I chided her playfully. My answer seem to have peeved her somewhat as she started pouting angrily at me again. I let out a snort in amusement and she took it badly because a flush started creeping up her face and she tried to look threatening to make me apologize or something. If anything, it made her look like an angry kitten. A very angry yet adorable kitten.

The urge to pet her head just keeps increasing. Quickly! Change the subject before I commit a crime!

"Woah, woah, woah. Hakuna your tatas girly. I'm sorry for the joke alright? No need to get so worked up over it." I raise both my hands in a pacifying gesture with a sheepish smile on my face.

"Hatata your what now?" I can tell that I've lost her at some point she has big round saucers for her eyes as she tilt her head. I must be imagining things because there seem to be a question mark floating above her head. Oh well, at least she's not angry anymore.

"Anyway, now that we've established the fact that I'm not a nigh immortal vampire that had been around for centuries, what were you going to order before I called you a kid?" I tried to get things back on track because I'm not sure if I could survive the wrath of a female from this world. I heard that an aura enchanted punch could shatter boulders.

She smack her fist into her palm, creating a soft poop as she did so while her face brighten up as she remembers her original purpose for coming here. "Oh yeah, where's Aunt May?" she asked as she look around for any sign of the green haired lady.

"The Boss? She went out for more ingredients. So until then I'm the one manning the fort." I informed her.

"Really?" she looks skeptical about what I just said. "How long will you last though? Aunt May hired a lot of helpers before but they all ran away before the end of the day."

"Oi, don't underestimate me so easily. I've already survive two waves of the zombie invasion today and I'll survive the last one when dinner time comes around." I stated proudly while thumping my chest. Then I look back at the redhead in front of me that house an amused smile on her face.

"We shall see then." she nodded to herself, her hair and ahoge bobbing along with her. "Anyway, I usually have to show my face and Aunt May would know what I want but since she isn't here…." she trailed off as she turn to look into the cake display case, more accurately, staring at the trays of cookies with some sort of hunger in her eyes.

"Hmm, they look different somehow." She mumble to herself as she move closer to the glass case showing the baked goods, her ahoge started waving casually in the air.

While I'm not an expert but I would sure as hell be unable to tell the difference in any of the cookies. Also, does her ahoge react to her emotions or something? Just watching it move on it's own is giving me the urge to grab it.

She cross her arms and use her hand to rub her chin in a thinking pose as she bend over to get a closer look. If she move any closer then her breath would start to fog up the glass. Needless to say I also got a good view of her tatas from my angle. Of course, being a gentleman that I am, I've only stare at it for a few seconds before quickly shifting my sight away. Man, for a girl that looks about fifteen she sure is growing in all the right places. Wait, since she's fifteen and all, doesn't that mean that she's jailbait?

Damn this body's teenage hormones!

Deciding not to travel down the path of the pedophile, I spoke up. "You can tell? I'm the one that baked it instead of the Boss." I told her as I walk over to the display case and follow her sight to see what she's looking at. She's standing on the other side of the case and was looking at the tray of chocolate chip cookies that came out of the oven half an hour ago with vast interest. I think she's going to start drooling if I don't distract her. "So, are you going to buy them or not?" I asked in curiosity, wondering how she would react to the taste. Boss just took one bite from it and I'm already hired, the customers just keeps coming for more after they got a taste of it and now I have what seems like a cookie addict eyeing them with primal hunger in her eyes.

She seem to snap out of her trance and quirked an eyebrow at me before straightening herself. She had an uncertain look on her face as she continue to rub her chin in deep thought.

"I have very high standards when it comes to cookies you know. So far only Aunt May could satisfied it." She informed me with a grin, it's almost like she's challenging me if the cookies that I've baked could satisfy her taste. Well consider the challenge accepted!

"Well, she wouldn't have sell it if it's not up to standards. It's bad for business you know." I smirked lazily before opening the display case and took out a cookie.

"You can try a sample if you like." I told her as I walk over to the counter to hand it over for her to take. But when I blinked the cookie was already gone from my hand. The girl had somehow zipped in front of me, her cloak was still fluttering in the air before gravity pulled it down, and snatched the cookie away at the span of half a second and was already holding it between her fingers in front of her with a dazzling smile appearing on her face. It's a smile so radiant that the entire area was enveloped by her light. I need a pair of sunglasses to stop it from raping my eyes. My god, She looked so happy it's like someone just offered the world to her.

She finally realised what she was doing and cough into her free hand with a small blush on her face. "W-well, since you've offered I can't refuse now can I?" she told me, trying to hide her blush while refusing to make eye contact with me.

I just grinned broadly. "Sure, whatever you say. Are you going to eat it or not. If not then give it back."

Reddie let out an annoyed huff before she held the cookie with both hands gingerly and place said baked good into her mouth. She took a small bite into it and begin to chew. Not three munches into it and she completely stopped moving, her eyes widen in shock. It was like time all around her was frozen by an unnatural force. Her surprised face was forever encased in the frozen capsule of time. Even one of the crumbs that broke off form the cookie froze in mid air in unnatural stillness.

What the fuck?

She remained like that for a while until I concluded that she's not going to recover any time soon. "Erm, hello?" I tried to get her attention by waving my hand in front of her face or maybe at least snap her out of whatever kind of trance she's in because it's really unnerving to see someone being so still. Even the crumbs are breaking the laws of physics just by staying in the air. Just how good was my baking that I manged to make someone freeze time? Or, was it so bad that she froze in horror at the foul taste that's destroying her taste buds right this instant. I don't remember putting up any of the failed experiments for sale. I'll be honest and say that putting mayonnaise in the flour was a shitty idea. Who knew it would've exploded.

Time finally resumed around her and she noticed that she had been staring vacantly at the cookie for a while now. Without wasting another moment she quickly eats it, her hands moved so fast that it was nothing but a blur to me. She stuffed the cookie into her mouth and started munching it like a little chipmunk before swallowing it.

With the cookie gone she just stared at her empty hand like she had just lost something important to her before she slowly looks to the ground, letting her bangs cast a shadow over her face, hiding her eyes behind them. "You said you baked this right?" her voice came in a low, eerier murmur. My subconscious somehow managed to pick up something terrifying from her tone and told me that I've done fucked up and could only suffer the consequences.

"Erm, yeah?" I replied carefully, slowly edging back from the counter as I did so. My eyes dart around to find any kind of exit I could take. I could feel cold sweat starting to appear on my back as she girl in front of me started vibrating, fucking _vibrating_ , on her spot. Oh god, what have I done!? Why is she acting like this!?

Before I could run away she reach over the counter and grabs my hand, squeezing it tightly so that I can't pull it away. Then she yanked it over the counter, pulling me along and causing my body collided with it. It caused me to feel a dull pain on my abdomen and my entire left arm to stretch out. I panicked and look up to see her clasping both her hands tightly on my left hand.

I look up a bit further to see her jaws set tight, her hair was still swaying from the abrupt momentum she caused before stopping, her eyes gaze into mine with intensity of a hawk and I could see something glinting behind those silver orbs of hers while her face was set on the most serious expression that I've only seen on people who were about to make a life changing decision.

Though the serious look she was going for was severely diminished by the cookie crumbs spread on lips. She's giving me the impression of a child that's trying to act all mature. Right now I'm feeling part curious and part confuse about her actions. Surely there's no need for her to pull my hand like tha-

"Please marry me!" she suddenly blurred out, her antenna of a hair stood up straight as she did so.

…

…..

….

Again, What the fuck?

 **-0-**

"What do you mean he doesn't exist!?" a green haired woman growled out irritatedly, her emerald eyes glared at the bartender in front of her, glinting dangerously from the light she's sitting under. She was sitting on one of the stools in front of a bar. We also know her as May Oliver.

She is in what appears to be a nightclub as far behind her was a dance floor and a stage with equipment placed for the DJ to play his music but there aren't anyone dancing there at the moment nor are anyone else besides the woman and the bartender present in the club. Above her are light different variates of dance light that serve to give the place different type of atmosphere for each situation but they're turned off right now, making the place darker than it should be since the club is currently closed hence the reason why the club is mostly empty. Most of the area around the club is shrouded in darkness, the only light source was above the two humans at the bar, kept on just for their sakes, illumining the area with a soft orange glow.

The green haired woman is currently facing a large man with a body of a lumberjack who's standing on the other side of the bar. The man has the perfect looking gentlemanly mustache adorning his roguish face with neatly kept gray hair and he's wearing a pair of red tinted sunglasses. Why he's wearing sunglasses indoor and in such a dark area is anyone's guess. He is currently wearing a white dress shirt that's messily stuffed into his pants with a black vest over the top that's not buttoned and left opened, black gloves, an expensive looking wrist watch and black dress pants. The reason why he's currently look so unkempt It probably because the club hasn't opened yet and he didn't need to dress to impress.

But if one were to peer deeply into the darkness, they could see movement there, a few figures were moving about in the darkness, the sound of their footsteps could clearly be heard as the usual loud music masking them is absent. There seem to be more people in here than originally thought but none of them were coming close to the two under the light.

A sigh was heard as the bartender spoke up "Look, the boy you've asked me to look into doesn't exist. I've dig into every type of record available and he didn't appear in any of them. Either someone erased every trace of his existence for some reason or he just pop out of nowhere." He place a small glass of wine on the table before pushing it towards the woman in front of him. She immediately grabs it and emptied it with just a swig.

"Before we get into further discussion about the strange boy that appeared at your doorstep, can you please let go of the new guy?" The bartender requested with an exasperated sign.

May just raise an eyebrow at his request before looking down at her foot. Underneath her foot and being grounded under her the heel of her sneakers is a man. He is wearing one of those black suit with a matching hat and shoes, red sunglasses, and a red tie, though the hat and glasses have been knocked out from his head and is littered on the floor a few feet away. He features aren't even worth noticing, making him look like one of those faceless mooks that all criminal organization have as underlings or cannon fodder. He's also crying anime tears as May continue to ground his face in mercilessly.

"What? He tried to attack me first." she replied with a shrug, looking a bit too amuse for the goon's liking.

"He's completely new to the job, just started yesterday. He still haven't learned all the basics yet so he didn't know you were one of the VIP's." The bartender explained.

May let out an 'Ah' as she stare at the goon with disinterest before looking to the side. "And here I thought your men had final gotten the guts to get their revenge." she spoke out loud with a teasing smile as her eyes gazing into the darkness. A few soft whimpers came out from the shadows as the figures within move back almost fearfully, earning a grin from the lady as she got what she was aiming for.

Her presence itself seem to terrify the bartender's henchmen. No one, except for the people involved, knows what she had done to inspire such fear into the lowly cannon fodders that lurks around this place.

She finally lift up her leg and the goon beneath her feet quickly scramble away like a man fearing for his life. May look on at the escaping figure with amusement present on her face before he disappeared into the darkness, back with his easily forgettable buddies as they tried to comfort him of his recently acquired trauma. They all know what and how he's feeling right now as they all have experienced it themselves.

"Guess I'll just have to keep investigating." May said with a tired sigh as she return her attention to the gray haired man, she no longer had the amused and teasing look from before when she was messing with the goons. What replaced it is a somber look, her back is now slouched as she rest both her elbows on the bar.

The conversation died, the two remained silent as May continue to stare at the empty glass in her hands while the bartender had a contemplative look on his face. There was something bothering him for a while now ever since he got her request to look into the boy that she hired yesterday. "Why you hired him anyway?" the bartender finally asked.

May absentmindedly prod the glass in front of her, watching it tip over dangerously to the side before letting it drop back. "Heh, I'll be honest with you Xiong, his culinary skills are leagues above mine." the green haired lady finally answered with an amused laugh as she recalled the reason why she even hired him in the first place. "You should try one of his cookies, it's the reason why I hired him after all."

The bartender, having known the woman for a long time, had an incredulous look on his face, causing his sunglasses drop slightly to his nose, showing his eyes that's filled with disbelief. He quickly push it back up, hiding his eyes behind the red tinted glasses before he spoke again. "Are you serious?"

May grinned, "Oh yes. Very serious. In fact, his food and drinks are so delicious it cause the number of customers I normally have to multiply by three times. I don't doubt that the numbers would increase again by tomorrow when news spread. I haven't had that much customers in ages. It's almost like the time when the shop first opened. But now I usually have a few loyal customers coming daily to get me by but thanks to him I don't have to worry about taxes for a long while. I even had to go and restock the storage because the ingredients ran out. It was meant to last a few weeks but it ran out in half a day." she explained excitedly.

"So you're keeping him because he's helping you earn money quicker?"

"Hell yeah, but I never expected for this to happen. I thought that I could find out more about him if I come to you, maybe even find his parents and inform them about their kid. But since you've found absolutely nothing about him at all then If I'm going to keep him around then I need to know if he's a danger to Vale or the people he hangs around with." May finish with a sigh and the two remained quiet after that. The only sound accompanying them was the shuffling of footsteps as the goons in the background prepare the Club for it's nightly business by cleaning and arranging the place and the sound of the watch ticking by on the bartender's wrist.

"Do you think you can eliminate every trace of your existence from this world?" The bartender suddenly asked.

"You mean like faking death and going into hiding?" May replied, "If so then sure, I can do that pretty well."

"No, I mean make it so that you never existed in the first place."

"Then no, I doubt it's possible for something like that to happen in this day and age. Your birth will be recorded even if you're born in one of the villages outside of the walls. No matter how careful you are and how many times your checked, there will always be some tiniest information you will overlooked and someone will find it and they will track you down with it."

"Yet your new employee managed to do just that."

"We don't know that yet. He doesn't look like the kind of person who's smart enough to hack into the system and erase all trace of himself. Either someone else had done it for him or he could be one of those android with souls Atlas was secretly trying to build for years. But last I checked they aren't haven't even made any progress with creating an artificial soul." May pointed out.

"Any chance that he might be one of _them_?" the man asked.

"I don't think so Hui. They have been completely decimated years ago. The survivors have gone into hiding somewhere in Remnant. It would take longer for them to recover the numbers needed for them to start something again. Besides, even if they want to sent sleeper agents here, they should have picked someone….less likely to arouse suspicion." May finished with a snort before pushing the glass away to the side.

"What do you mean by that?" Hui Xiong raise his eyebrow above the glasses that he's wearing.

"The kid, you just need one look at him and you'll know that he isn't from here. He's completely clueless on how the things works around here. He didn't know how to turn on a TV, never own a scroll before, doesn't know how much lien is worth, and a whole lot of common sense missing from his head and I discovered all that on day one. He tried to hide it but I can tell that he's confuse about a lot of thing but he's adapting frighteningly fast. If I didn't know better, it's like he's a newborn baby that's just learning about the world."

"He could be acting you know." Hui reminded her.

"Already checked for that, his confusion is genuine. His posture was literally screaming out that he has no clue what's going on when he thinks I'm not looking. He clearly doesn't seem to be pretending." May sighed.

"I see. But let's not forget that his mind could be meddled with by some kind of semblance and he was placed here as their spy while remaining blissfully unaware of the fact that he's their sleeper agent. But just to be sure, how hard will it be to take him down?" The man asked the question that should have been asked in the first place.

The boy in question could very well be a dangerous individual. Every Huntsmen worth their salt or Criminal that have been in the game for a long time knows that looks could be very deceiving. After all, you don't need to look intimidating to kill someone. During a party, a child could easily be the most dangerous person in the room as no one would suspect him to poison people's food and drinks. Knowing his capabilities can would mean that they would have an easier time subduing him quickly. And it can lead to lots of lives being saved if he ever go crazy and started killing everyone.

"It'll be like stomping on an ant." May shook her head somberly. "He Aura is inactive, his hands looks smoother than a girl's, indicating that he didn't train with any kind of weapons before nor had he done hard labor, his situational awareness is close to none since he didn't even react when I have a knife just a few inches next to his neck when we're together in the kitchen. Everything about him just screams civilian." The woman slump down on the bar and let out a long tired sigh, using both her forearms as pillows to cushion her forehead. Her ponytail slide down her neck and to the side of her face.

"He's a good kid Hui, I just don't want to think of the possibility that he might become someone that would be a danger to the people." May spoke with a tone of someone who has lost many things that were once close to her, the sorrow in his voice was evident as she shakes her head side to side, letting her ponytail swing around as she felt the weight of her head shift on her forearms.

"You sounded attached to him." Hui noted as he pick up the glass May had pushed aside and place it in the nearby sink.

"Well, I don't wanna lose my newly found money maker now do I?" May lift her head up to shoot a grin towards the large man, resting her chin on her forearms.

"He reminds you of your son doesn't he?" Hui remarked, causing a shadow to wash over May's face. Hui could see her body visibly tensed and hear the hastily retreating footsteps of his henchmen as they move further away from where they were in fear of the woman's wrath when they saw her body shaking.

May took a deep breath to calm herself, she kept her eyes closed as she stop her emotions from rising. Flashes of the past shot by behind her eyelids but she dismissed them with a grunt. It has been years already, there's no need for the past to control her anymore than it already had.

"They're so much alike." May muttered quietly as she opened her eyes. "He does things at his own pace, didn't really care about the authority of others, doesn't tolerate racism, rather optimistic about how things would go, won't give two shit whether or not you're important and has the uncanny ability to fall asleep anywhere he wants." She begins to list of the things she had discovered about the boy she had hired. Her mind thought back to an incident that occurred this morning.

 _May was cleaning up the tables as quick as she could while the boy was manning the counter. She was somewhat surprised by the number of customers today. Normally there would be only a handful that would come by for their morning coffee and breakfast but today is different. There was still a long line of customers waiting for their turn as the boy efficiently takes their orders before running to the back to prepare them._

 _She was rather thankful that the boy was able to hold his own in this kind of situation. Normally all the others she had hired before would feel the pressure of being rushed at by the horde._

 _They were undermanned but_ _surprisingly, is_ _somehow getting by._ _The patience of the customers contribute to that end._ _She was impressed by the number of customers that came by_ _and how cooperative they were_ _just to get_ _a taste of his cooking._ _She had never experienced this much customers coming to her humble little shop_ _for a long time_ _._ _She's still not sure how someone so young would be so experienced at cooking._ _Hell, with how good his food tasted it wouldn't be out of place if he works at a five star restaurant. They probably wouldn't let him go afterwards once they hired him. May felt like she had gotten a great deal for his services if all she needed to do was provided a place for him to sleep and pay him_ _for helping out_ _._

 _But there's still his history to consider and she had already asked a 'friend' to look into it. She'll probably go find him sometime today after the shop's closed or if something came up and she needed to leave._ _Judging by the number of people coming the ingredients are going to run out soon and she would need to restock. She couldn't help but feel impressed, a weeks worth of food gone in a day._

 _Just as she was about to walk into the kitchen to place the dishes at the washing area_ _the_ _font_ _door swung open violently, gaining everyone's attention_ _as the bell_ _above it_ _rung harshly_ _._

 _Walking through_ _the_ _door_ _with a confident stride_ _was a tall man with a large imposing figure._

 _Like everyone else in Remnant, his looks are good enough for any women to swoon over._ _His long silver hair was neatly kept and his bangs were swiped to one side, hiding one of his_ _brown_ _eyes behind it. He dons a_ _skintight_ _silver shirt_ _to show off his muscles_ _with a metal breastplate over it,_ _a pair of black gloves with a metal plate_ _on the back_ _,_ _a gray trouser_ _s_ _with metal knee pads and gray sneakers._ _On his back is a weapon but in it's compacted box form, those who had never seen it before will not be able to tell what it would become_ _once_ _it's_ _activated_ _._ _The man radiated an aura of arrogance as he strode into the cafe, ignoring the long line_ _as he move to the counter,_ _earning looks from those waiting in the line._

 _E_ _veryone knows_ _who he was._ _He_ _is_ _S_ _ill Proditor,_ _a_ _well known_ _local_ _Huntsmen_ _that had been in business for many years_ _. But unlike other Huntsmen, he fame wasn't acquired because of his skill or endeavor against the Grimm nor was it about his looks._ _It was his personality._

 _T_ _o put things simply, he's an asshole._ _He is known for how he acts around others, like everyone else is beneath him._ _The media would talk about him like some sort of hero but_ _almost everyone already knew what kind of person he was._ _He acts arrogant_ _and prideful_ _to those who are in a lower position to him, a racist, only became a Huntsmen because fame_ _and he_ _would abuse his position if he could._ _But no one could do anything against him because of his position_ _and without proof. H_ _e_ _'s also_ _smart enough not to do anything extensive that would warrant_ _any action_ _to be taken_ _from the government._ _He's also_ _happen to be_ _her son's old teammate._

 _M_ _ay just scoffed silently when she saw him._ _The other Huntsmen and Huntress are way better than him in terms of personality. Apparently he is one of the few bad apples in his generation._ _She would never figure out how_ _he had changed so much from a_ _n earnest,_ _hardworking boy to a jerk_ _._ _He must have come here because he heard of the new menu that_ _she and the boy had_ _worked out yesterday._ _She figure that she should hurry and return to the counter so the boy doesn't have to deal with Sill. He'd just started working here after all. No need to make him deal with_ _an_ _overbearing jackasses on his first day._

 _Sadly she was too slow and Sill had already reached the counter and the boy that was taking the order of a female cat Faunus. Her gut feeling was telling her that a problem would arose because from what she had gathered about the boy so far, she knew that he tends to be selectively deaf when someone rude is talking to him and from what she knew of Sill, he hates being ignored._

 _Sill immediately demanded for the boy to take his order as he stood next to the Faunus girl. She looks like an ordinary civilian and could only shrink on her spot while moving away as quietly as she could and hope that Sill doesn't notice her. May frowned at the sight and sighed internally. It would be a long time before the two races could actually get together again and treat each other as equals._

 _The following event played out just as she had expected. The boy haven't heard Sill at all and turn to look confusingly at the retreating girl, wondering why she was moving away from the counter. Sill on the other hand was miffed that he was being disregarded by the boy. Sill finally got the boy's attention when he slam his fist onto the counter with a loud bang, causing the cash register to bounce slightly while making those nearby flinch and move back and for the boy to look at his direction._

" _Oh hey, I didn't notice you there. Did you cut in line? Because that's a very douchey thing to do." The boy exclaimed in surprise before he ask his question in a nonchalant manner. While asking he place his elbow on the counter and rest his chin on his palm while he meet Sill's eyes. May was debating whether or not she should take over the counter now or see how the boy would handle this. Reasoning told her that she should cut in to avoid a hassle but her curiosity got the better of her and she walked back to the kitchen to place the dishes away before watching from the pick up area. Besides, she had earned a lot today already so she could risk losing a few customers for the day. She also noticed that everyone's attention was mainly focused on the two of them as she lean over the pick up area and rest her elbows on the wooden counter where food is normally placed for the waiter to pick it up. She tried to get herself comfortable as she could before watching the ensuing incident._

 _Sill didn't like how the boy was talking to him_ _and ignored his question._ _He was in a rather fine mood today so he would forgive his disrespect._ _He_ _remove his hand from the counter so he could get a good look at the_ _menu pasted on top of_ _it_ _to make it easier for customers to choose what they want. Just as Sill opened his mouth to make his order the boy interrupted him._

" _Yeah, sorry there bud but could you get_ _back_ _in line_ _and wait_ _like everyone else while I take the lovely lady's order?_ _She was here before you after all._ _" he asked while gesturing at the_ _retreating_ _girl whom had blushed at his compliment_ _but then cower in place when Sill's attention was drawn to her._

 _S_ _ill let out a 'Tsk' before he turn his attention back to the boy. "So you're one of them Animal lovers huh. You'd rather serve one of them instead of those who are keeping you people safe?_ _Why are you serving them anyway!? Don't you know what they have done, how much we Humans lost because of their kind!?_ _" he growled at the boy while the nearby Faunus'_ _look riled up_ _and glare at him with scornful looks because of_ _what he had said about them but they_ _wisely_ _chose not to spoke up or risk being discriminated again_ _because the humans in the cafe outnumbered them right now_ _._

" _History is written by the victor my friend, we'll never really know what actually happened unless we're there_ _to witness it_ _ourselves. Besides, w_ _e serve just about anybody here: Humans, Faunus,_ _Homosexual,_ _Disguised criminals, Very rude people_ _especially_ _you_ _,_ _Disabled, Infants, Retards,_ _Aliens, Hobbits, Dwarfs, Pokemons, Ninjas,_ _Civilized Grimms (If there are any in the first place), Gender confused people,_ _Time Lords, Space Pirates, Undead, Dragons, Dimension travelers,_ _but not_ _O_ _mnipotent_ _B_ _eings because fuck them, they just like to troll people anyway."_ _The boy listed out_ _rapidly_ _, most of what he said was lost to the wind as people couldn't understand what he was talking about_ _and he was talking too fast for them to catch it properly_ _._

" _Anyway,_ _thank you for keeping us safe_ _and all_ _but seriously, go and wait in line like everyone else._ _Just because you're bigger or better than the rest of us doesn't mean you get to be a prick._ _It's common sense after all."_ _The boy d_ _rawl_ _ed_ _out, his eyes_ _still_ _looking at Sill with disinterest while a vein pop up on_ _Sill's_ _head_ _as his body shook_ _in anger_ _._

" _Do you have any idea who you're talking to!?" Sill demanded_ _heatedly_ _as he slam both his hands on the counter and_ _lean forward, placing_ _his face near to the boy's to sneer at him._ _To May's surprise, the boy didn't even flinched or move back when faced with Sill's outburst and continue to stare at him with disinterest._

" _Not a clue." The boy answered cheerfully_ _with a_ _beaming_ _smile_ _,_ _earning a few sweatdrop all around while_ _sounding like he couldn't care less about the person in front of him. "_ _And_ _to tell how much I actually care about who you are, all one needs to do is to look out into the sky and count the number of stars currently visible." the boy made an elaborate gesture towards the window_ _in a dramatic fashion_ _, making everyone inside turn their head towards it to look outside into the sky, even Sill_ _and May_ _did so_ _involuntarily_ _._

 _W_ _hat greeted everyone was the clear blue sky, hardly any cloud present and the sun that's burning brightly. Everyone blinked in near perfect sync as they continue to look into the sky. Sill immediately snap his head back at the boy and slam both his hands on the counter again. "It's morning you dumbass! There aren't any stars_ _out_ _right now!" Sill yelled, his eyebrow was twitching in annoyance_ _and everyone turn their attention back to the two_ _._

" _Precisely." the boy answered with a snap of his fingers_ _before he point at the sky outside the window_ _. "Look at all the fucks I give about your reputation."_ _he exclaimed with a small infectious laugh that cause a few to let out snickers and giggles as well._ _"_ _So, would you kindly go back and wait in line? Because you're really_ _taking up everyone's time_ _here_ _._ _"_ _The boy's blatant display of callousness really shocked most people in the cafe. No one had ever been so disrespectful to a Huntsmen before, though most of the Huntsmen aren't as bad as Sill but still, to be able to stand up to a_ _n_ _obviously armed person even though he's completely defenseless is something to admire._

 _M_ _ay couldn't help but let out a snort in amusement_ _as she_ _watched them bicker._ _S_ _he_ _could feel_ _a sense of nostalgia_ _as she watches_ _those two_ _but didn't know why_ _she's feeling that way._

" _I am Sill_ _Proditor!"_ _He growled threateningly at the boy, "I'm was in the group that pushed back the Grimm horde that threatened to overrun Vale three years ago,_ _I'm also known as the Silver Flare who had put plenty of criminals behind bars, I-" Of course with his narcissistic attitude he just have to list all his accomplishments like it's a trophy to wave around._ _May snorted, knowing full well that he_ _had most likely_ _leeched off the success of others_ _while he slacked off in the back._

 _M_ _ay turn her gaze to the boy to see what his reaction is to all of this and had to restrain herself from laughing out loud. Instead, she settle with a big grin a_ _s_ _she watch how the boy amazingly fell asleep while standing_ _and_ _with his chin still placed on his palm as Sill continue to drone on about his accomplishments._ _It reminded her of her own son that had the uncanny ability to fall asleep anywhere he wants no matter what kind of position he's in._

 _Sill finally noticed that the person he was talking to was no longer in the land of the waking. He was definitely miffed by the boy. After being ignored and disrespected by someone as weak as him, Sill's temper had already reached it's limits. He quickly drew his arm back, the nearby customers saw his actions and some let out a gasp, knowing that he was about to punch the boy. Some even move to stop him while May's eyes widen in surprise at Sill's sudden aggressiveness. Her heart skipped a beat in panic as she quickly move from her position so she could stop the violence from occurring. She knew that she and the other customers wouldn't be able to stop Sill in time and she didn't know whether or not the boy could take a hit. She opened her mouth to shout something to distract him. But what happened next cause her to froze in place in shock, her mouth still open and her words stuck at her throat._

 _Just as Sill lunched his punch, the boy's head slipped from his palm and comically face smack onto the counter. Sill's punch went through where his head used to be as his eyes widen in surprise. Sill's entire body was swung forward and the boy woke up, obviously startled and quickly push himself back up. Sadly Sill's head was right above him and the back of the boy's head collided with Sill's chin. Painfully._

 _May could only watch in awe as the two were crouching on the ground, nursing on their wounds as the customers watch on in bafflement. The boy was cradling the back of his head as he crouched behind the counter. Sill on the other hand, was knocked onto his back while laying on the ground as he place both his hands on his chin with a silent his scream of pain stuck in his throat and only strange high pitch sound coming from his mouth. Seeing that he didn't have his Aura activated, the force of the unintentional headbutt was received at full force. It was amusing how someone larger and evidently more muscular still managed to lose right after bragging about how strong he was._

 _Some of the customers were even laughing good naturedly, others giggled at the sight. It was for a brief moment that everyone inside the cafe had some linking of emotional resonance with each other. It was surreal to say the least. Humans and Faunus were laughing benevolently with each other, uncaring about their own race as they both talk about what they had just witness in carefree chatter._

 _For a moment, in May's eyes, the boy's collapsed figure was replaced with her son's as she was reminded of the past where he and Still would often bicker with each other before resorting to punching each other to get their point across._

 _She now understood where the sense of nostalgia was coming from. The boy deeply reminded her of her deceased son. His actions would often emulate his whether it's by coincidence or something else, she would never know._

 _He didn't care about racial differences, he doesn't bow down to other and he couldn't care less about other's achievements but judge people by their personality. She could imagine him trying to unite the two races even when it seemed hopeless not because it's the right thing to do but because he just wants to see the two races get along together. Even if it will eventually fail he will still keep on trying, after all he's just that stubborn._

 _It was what got her son killed after all._

 _May's hand clenched into tight fists as she was reminded of how her son died. But she took a deep breath to calm herself before looking around her, burning the scene in front of her into her memory. The moment was short lived but it was beautiful to experience for everyone present._

 _Eventually May had to step in and stop the two from fighting each other. Thankfully, Sill's other teammates came by and dragged him away before he could start something again. But at the back of her mind, an unnerving question popped up. Why wasn't the kid, who's clearly just a civilian, not afraid of Sill, an experienced Huntsmen twice his size?_

Hui just look at the exhausted woman in front of him. She had been very still for the past few minutes, slouching on the bar, eyes completely unfocused as she gaze into the distance. He has no doubt that she was thinking about the past right now like all the other times she did when she came by. He decided to bring her back to the present with a clap of his hands. The green haired woman in front of him immediately reacted to the sound and threw a punch towards it. Having anticipated the reaction Hui took a step back and the punch stop short in front of his face as May's arm was too short to keep going.

May took a moment to realise what she was doing and sat back down on her seat with a tired sigh. "Sorry 'bout that." she mumbled out.

"It's no big deal." he reassured before continuing. "Maybe we should tell the old man about him." Hui proposed a course of action as he walk back in front of the bar hand rest both his hands on the edge to use as support for his body as he leans on it.

May thought deeply about it as she furrow her brow before shaking her head. "Nah, the old man have enough on his plate already. It could be a false alarm and I don't want him to go out of his way to help us only to find out that the kid's completely innocent. I'll just keep an eye on him for now." She place her hands on the bar to push herself up from her stool slowly. Her hair sway along with her movement as she stood up, the goons all around stopped what they were doing just to watch what she was about to do with bated breath, hoping that she doesn't come after them. "I should head back, I have no idea what would happen if I left him alone for too long." She grumbled with a small shake of her head.

"Tell me if you found anything about him and don't forget your groceries now." Hui just jerk his head towards the side for her to see. May turn her head towards where Hui was nodding at and saw multiple large plastic bags completely stuffed full and bloated, each bag was almost the size of a human torso. May let out a sheepish chuckle at the sight before turning towards Hui. "I may have bought too much this time. Think you can lend one of your goons to help me carry my groceries?"

"I think they would rather jump off Beacon's tower than willingly get close to you after what you've did to them." Hui told her with a hearty laugh, his eyes darting to the darkness of the club to see a few figures nodding their heads enthusiastically.

May let loose an offended gasp as she whip her head back to look at Hui in mock hurt. "You're not going to let a frail woman carry all of that by herself now are you?" She asked while batting her eyelash at him before quivering her lips and clasping both her hands together while making herself look like a kicked puppy. Some murmurs came from the sides but it was instantly hushed when May turn to look their way.

"You seem to be able to carry them just fine when you barged in here and beat up the new guy not long ago." Hui pointed out warily.

May let out an annoyed 'tch' before dropping her act and sit facing away from Hui in a completely undignified manner that's mostly not suitable for women wearing skirts as she place her right foot over her left tight. Then she lean back and rest her back against the bar and prob her elbows on it too while she's at it.

"Eh, I'm not feeling like it at the moment. Got anyone in the club that I haven't traumatized yet?" May asked innocently with a grin while Hui just let loose a sigh.

"You've just traumatized the last one." Hui told her with a dry laugh "You're not going to give up until I get someone to carry your stuff for you aren't you." It came out more of a statement than a question.

"You know me so well." May just tilt her head backwards to look at Hui and smile smugly at him. Hui rolled his eyes before giving a resigned sigh and lift his hands up to his mouth slowly and cup them. Then he shouted.

"JUNIOR! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" Hui's voice was insanely loud. It managed to reverberate the entire place while the glasses placed on the shelf behind him shook violently. Thankfully they didn't fall because physic was being lazy today and they remained stationed at where they were placed. The grunts that were nearby winched at the volume while May remained unfazed by his shouting.

"A wee bit loud there don't you think?" May quipped good naturedly with a smirk. Hui just shrugged and shift his eyes to look at the stairs where the sound of footsteps were coming from, May followed his line of sight to see who's coming down.

Everyone, even the goons, watches as a tall, lean teenager walk down with an annoyed grunt coming from him. Down walked a boy with gray eyes and short black hair. He's donning a white dress shirt with a black vest over the top, a red tie, black gloves and black dress pants. His face looks almost like Hui's but younger and a lot less as roguish.

"What is it now old man?" He asked in an irritated tone once he reached the last step. He was obviously busy with something upstairs when he was called because he was holding onto a crowbar as he walked down. A blood stained crowbar mind you. Oddly enough, non of his clothes had any sigh of being bloodied so it is debatable whether the crowbar was already stained when he pick it up or he had actually used it for...questionable purposes.

"Need you to do some errands. Help this lady carry her groceries to where she's going." Hui pointed at the pile of foodstuff that's just waiting to be placed in the freezer with his thumb.

The teen looked rather annoyed that he was being called to do something so trivial. "Why can't you get one of the men to do it? Isn't that why we hired them for?" He told his father as he cross his arms.

"They're unavailable right now." Hui replied seriously, causing the boy to snort in response. He opened his mouth, wanting to reject the job but the weird grin coming from May that seem to be saying 'Try it and we'll see what'll happen.' kind of stopped him in his tracks. He narrowed his eyes at the green haired lady before turning his head around to see the why the henchmen were being so quiet. Their vigorous shaking of their head and the look of pure horror and dread etched onto their faces was all that was needed to convince him to carry the bags.

 **-0-**

May was walking back to her cafe, whistling happily while walking with her right hand holding onto her left wrist behind her back as her newly acquired servant was carrying her pile of all her groceries that was stacked to the point where it's towering over him, effectively blocking his sight. How he managed to walk without running into anything is still a mystery to her.

They were nearing her cafe and she could see it in the distance.

"Thanks for the help there kiddo." May gave him a casual thanks but the only reply she gotten in return was strained grunts as the weight of the bags was pulling the teen down while he struggle not to fall. Now that she thought about it, maybe she could get the boy to do the shopping next time. "Geez kid, you sound like you're having seizure or something." she joked but only got another grunt in return.

When they finally reached at the front door of their destination, May heard a grateful sigh coming from behind her but she ignore it in favour of looking through the glass door. She wasn't surprise to find out that her favorite customer was here when she saw the familiar redhead standing in front of the counter with her back facing the door. But she was rather confused when she saw her new employee looking rather freaked out and backing away from his position. If she looked closer she could see that the redhead was vibrating. There didn't seem to be any other customers present right now so she estimated that it's probably three in the afternoon.

Now just what on Remnant happened while she was away?

But the question was pushed aside in favour of getting inside so her bag carrier could lay down his burden in the kitchen. She's not that cruel to make him wait longer than absolutely necessary. And so she place her hand on the glass door, feeling the cool sensation of the smooth glass caressing her palm as she exert the minimum amount of force necessary to push the door open, making sure not to hit the bell that was hanging on the top of the door so that she wouldn't alert the two inside that she was entering. She was expecting to walk into her cafe and enjoy the cool air generated from the air conditioner and maybe surprise the two of them with her quiet entrance; she never expected to hear something that would cause her to almost do a face-vault if she wasn't used to a certain old man's antics.

"Please marry me!" The redhead girl that she had known for years and grown to be fond of shouted out something that she had never expected with such heartfelt conviction that one couldn't help but blush even though her proposal wasn't directed at them. They could even tell how passionate she that sentence was being delivered just by her the tone of her voice while her eyes gazed deeply into the boy whose hand she was holding, piercing into his soul with those silver orbs of hers. You can also tell how much he's freaking out at the moment by the amount of question and exclamation marks appearing above his head. He also looked like he wanted to bail from the girl's (maybe) sincere proposal, coward.

"What the heck!?" May unintentionally shouted out.

That seem to have break the girl out of whatever mind control that she's in as she suddenly flinched from the shouting. Then entire body tensed as she slowly look down at her hands. "Eep!" she shrieked as she let go of the hand she was holding, treating it like it's actually red hot lead. May could see the boy letting out a sigh of relief as the force that's almost pulling him over the counter was gone. He push himself back from the counter and started rubbing his abdomen with a grimace before turning his attention back to the redhead. It was then did he notice her coming through the door with Junior in tow.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't know what came over me!" the redhead started speaking in panic, her face started getting redder from the neck up with each word she had spoken. "For some reason my brain thought that marrying you would be the best course of action for getting more cookies and my body and mouth moved on it's own and-" She utter out quickly as her eyes turned into spinning twirls and her arms flail around wildly. The redness of her face had already reached the point where she would look like a ripe tomato while steam is emitting from her head.

"Why Summer," May suddenly called out and interrupted her with a surprised gasp as she held her hand over her mouth to hide her shock(read: smirk). The redhead immediately turn around when she heard her voice, and May had a good look at how red her face was. She could clearly see the confusion and panic plastered on her face "I didn't know you had it in your to try and ensnare boys with your charm just so they would do your biddings for you. Oh where did that sweet, innocent little girl I know that always come over for cookies go?" She place her hands over her heart dramatically as she lament over how her cute little sister figure was no longer the innocent little girl that she once knew. Of course, she was just messing with the redhead since her reactions are always cute to watch.

Somehow she wasn't surprise that something like this would happen at all. Summer is deeply in love with cookies after all and the boy's culinary skills are superb. But to think that it could get her to react like that….things will be most interesting him around that's for sure.

"W-w-wha?" Summer stammered out as best as she could as her brain proceed to process what she had just heard, causing her to froze in place. "Nonononono! You've got it all wrong!" Summer strongly denies as she wave her hand in front of her while shaking her head with astonishing vigor. The lock of hair that's usually hanging on top of her head lazily is now standing up rigidly like it was frozen from the news that it's parents had gotten into a car accident and is in the emergency room. May just watch the lock of hair in curiosity and wonder. She never figure out if Summer's controlling it consciously or unconsciously or if she's even aware that it's moving at all but it's still always amusing to watch how her ahoge would react to her emotions. There were times she had wondered if Summer's actually a Faunus but she had long figure out that she's a hundred percent human.

"Can I at least go now?" came the gruff and tired voice of her helper but he was ignored in favour of watching the redhead reactions. But she also caught the raven haired boy behind the counter letting out a very mischievous grin as he watch the redhead panic.

The boy suddenly let out a dramatic gasp, causing Summer to snap her head towards him with the speed that would most likely break the sound barrier if used correctly. He place his hands over he heart with an expression of hurt on his face, almost like a kicked puppy as he stare into her eyes, causing her to flinch back from the sadness emitting from them.

"So you're only marrying me for my cookies? Am I nothing more than just a cookie dispenser to you?" he demanded in a heartbroken tone filled with anguish and betrayal just like a cheated wife when she caught her husband with another woman.

"W-wait! I can explain!" Summer, unexpectedly, responded with the cliché line that all caught husband used when they're caught as she panicked.

"What's there to explain!? Didn't you only want to use me and discard me like some sort of tool to be used!?" he cried out with a sniffle, pretending to wipe away a tear from his eye. May had a hard time containing her grin. She had no idea where all these came from but it's enjoyable to watch so who cares. She'll think about it later but for now she chose to enjoy the show.

Summer just looked flabbergasted as her mouth hanged open, unsure of what to say. She's currently feeling a vast array of emotions right now but the strongest one is confusion and she still haven't recovered from the earlier shock of suddenly proposing to someone she had just met. Just what could have made her think that way!? The only thing she could remember clearly was the heavenly taste in her mouth. "I didn't mean to-"

Her excuse was cut off with the delighted reply of the boy who had did a hundred eighty degree change from a betrayed wife to an amused teenager. "Jokes aside, I'm glad to know that my cookies are awesome enough to make you react like that." he grinned broadly as he lean against the counter with his elbows as he watch Summer nearly face vaulted onto the floor from the absurdness of the change.

"Aww, it's over already?" May complained with a childish whine, still standing by the door and blocking passage for Junior who's just about ready to drop everything from exhaustion. Carrying a mountain of groceries isn't easy you know?

"W-what was all that about just now!?" Summer snapped angrily at the boy with her face still a bright shade of red.

"It's called teasing, sweetheart." the boy answered with a smirk as his eyes gaze at her with half lidded eyes.

"S-s-s-sweetheart? W-w-w-wha!?" If her face gets any redder than it is now May wouldn't doubt that Summer would faint on the spot since the necessary amount of blood for basic functions are being directed to her face.

"Hm?" the boy raise an eyebrow. "Well, you did propose to me after all and while I really wouldn't mind marrying a cute girl like you but I think it's still too quick for my liking so I'm taking it slow. What better way to do that than calling you sweetheart?" he replied with a cheerful grin but May would see him evilly snickering to himself beneath those blue orbs of his as Summer became rigidly still with the blush on her face getting a shade redder.

"Like I said it was a misunderstanding! And don't go around calling people cute like it was nothing!" Summer retorted hastily, though she sounded suspiciously happy there for a moment.

"Aww~ there's nothing wrong with saying the truth. You are pretty cute after all." the boy spoke to her with a tone that one normally use when they're speaking to a child, getting her angry and flustered at the same time.

Summer, who's unable to say anything right now because of the jumbled up emotions that she's experiencing, could only fume at him with a pouty glare as her hands were clutching onto her skirt and her red trimmed ahoge arced up like a dog's tail when it's being threaten. Her entire body was trembling but May couldn't tell if she's angry or just embarrassed but knowing her for so long she had a suspicion that it's the latter. The boy had a suspiciously satisfied smile on his face when he saw Summer pouting at him. May had a suspicion that Summer's limit is just about reached and looks just about ready to burst.

"Hm? Your silence seem to be telling me that you're disagreeing with me. Don't worry. You're cute now but in a few years, I would have no doubt that you'll grow into a beauty in the future so-"

"Stop calling me cute!" Summer immediately sends a punch towards the boy as she look the other way and using her cloak to hide her burning face as she fought to contain the ever growing smile sprouting on her lips. Her other hand continue to wave around at where the boy was suppose to be but was hitting air instead but at Summer's current state she couldn't tell that she was hitting nothing.

May had learned something new about her little sister figure today. It seems that she can't take a compliment from the opposite sex without being flustered. She nodded to herself with an ever so serious face as her eyes study the human shaped hole that the boy rammed through and held out a sign that has a nine on it for a finely executed punch.

She has no idea whether or not he survived that since he's been rammed through with the force of a speeding car and his Aura was not unlocked yet. Oh well, at least things would be more interesting from now on.

"M….ma'am? Can you at least tell me where to put all these now?" And of course, Junior remained ignored.

 **-0-**

I'm not sure what I should be surprised about.

A tiny girl is able to punch me through a wall or I remained relatively unharmed after the entire ordeal with just a messy hair with derbies sticking out of my uniform to show for it.

Well I'm alive and well so I shouldn't complain much.

Oh yeah, the entire thing was a week ago so the hole's already fixed and everything is back to normal.…at least it's as normal as it can get. I'm still spending my time behind the counter since it's Boss' turn to handle kitchen duty. I'm standing with my usual lazy posture, leaning on the counter with my elbows and resting my chin on my palms. My eyes were staring out at the window and watching the day pass by like an old man that had done everything he needed to do in his life and is content to just watch the sands of time trickle down the hourglass. The long chain of customers during lunch hour was finally broken and I get to take a breather. I let out a satisfied sigh as I continue to look out into the world, watching people walk pass the cafe and going on with their lives. Today sure is peaceful~

"Here ya go~" I heard a girlish voice called out from my right.

"Why thank you. You sure are working hard today." I heard an old lady complimenting the girl.

"Ehehe~ it's nothing." I could imagine the girl sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck with a faint blush as she took in the compliment.

I fought back a yawn as I turn my head towards the source of the voice, the calm atmosphere of the cafe is seriously making me drowsy. It kinda reminds me of school. The monotonous lessons that I had to sit though taught me the ability to sleep wherever I want and whatever posture I'm in. It's a freaking blessing that's for sure. I never knew being able to sleep while sitting straight with my eyes wide open could be so handy.

What I saw when I turn my head was none other than the redhead that punched me through the wall. She's diligently serving the customers by bringing them their orders. I'm never seen someone working so seriously as a waitress before. Her eyes just ooze seriousness and- no wait. They're actually darting towards the clock handing on the wall to see if break time would arrive yet. It's currently two-fifty in the afternoon by the way.

Instead of her little white riding hood garb that she's wearing when she sent me flying to kingdom come, she's currently wearing a decent maid outfit. But unlike the usual maid outfits that I'm used to seeing, it's colour scheme is inverted. Meaning the normally black part is white and the normally white part is black. In short, she's wearing a modest white with black trim one-piece dress doesn't show a lot of skin with knee length skirt that has black frills at the end, an apron that's the cafe themed with pictures of clouds on it (It really doesn't go well with the black), long white stocking and black boots while wearing a black ruffled headband that's specially designed to let her ahoge to move around freely without hitting it, which is currently swinging around energetically like a dog's tail at the praise she received.

I have no idea where Boss got that outfit but who am I to complain. She looks so fucking adorable in it. I recall that we both gave each other a thumbs up after she force Summer to wear that. I've never felt such strong comradeship before. It's almost like we've gain an understanding with each other with just a simple glace at Summer's maid outfit. Though I'm kinda jealous that Boss has her scroll to keep the pictures. I still need to save up so I could buy one for myself and ask her to send me a few blackmai- I mean, teasing materials of her wearing that garb.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the aftermath of last week after I was knocked out. For a girl that small she is freakishly strong. She must be training to be a huntsmen or something. Then again, she does have that main character aura so I guess it's a given that she would be strong.

Anyway, after Summer realised that she had damaged Boss's property she had a new set of worries. She was on her knees and bowing in your typical dogeza position as she apologize for causing damage to her cafe. But Boss reassure her that it's fine as long as she could pay for the repairs.

Sadly she couldn't since she's running low on lien because she keeps using her allowance to buy herself more cookies. Boss was about to call her parents to let them know what their daughter had done but Summer panicked with tears coming out of her eyes like a waterfall as she started begging for Boss not to tell them, clinging onto her leg while trembling in fear with enough power to make Boss vibrate from the vibration that was being transferred over. The fear and terror in her voice was very palpable, even I was somehow scared by the thought of her parents coming over even though I've never met them before. But if just the mention of them enough to scare Summer like that then I really don't wanna know.

And so it was decided that she has to work here during the weekends and Friday afternoon since she still has school to go to during the weekdays. She will have to work here until she could pay back her debt for the repair cost.

Oh dear~ only fifteen and already in debt.

Also, the guy carrying the groceries finally dropped them because his arms were numb. So he now works part time as errand boy to pay back for the ingredients that he had wasted. Somehow I suspect that Boss purposely made him wait out there so that he would drop the groceries and she would get a free transporter.

Anyho, back to the subject at hand.

At first she was unsatisfied about the entire thing, maybe it's because she would have to work with me and it's partly my fault that she's in this situation in the first place. She quickly changed her mind when snack time rolls around and get a plate of free cookies that are leftovers. She's totally on board now since she gets free cookies every time she works here and she didn't have to worry about her allowance at all. She was literally crying tears of joy when she found out about that, sobbing about how she can finally have lien to buy other things now. I'm guessing her wallet was always flat because of her reckless spending for her favorite food.

Hence the reason why her eyes are darting to the clock. She's just waiting for more free cookies with primal hunger in her eyes. Those who stood in her way beware, the terminator is about to be unleashed once the clock hits three.

Also, I never thought I get to witness a foodgasm in real life. The satisfied mewing she emitted from each bite is something I won't be forgetting anything soon. Once she get past the nearly fainting with each bite stage she somehow manage to chibified herself and started shoving the cookies into her mouth in full speed.

I had a hard time not pinching her fully stuffed cheeks, which I did in the end after a painstaking inner battle with my conscience.

They felt like mochi and they're so stretchy.

She bit my hand in the end after getting fed up with being interrupted. I had to swing her chibified form around before she dislodged her mouth from my hand. I've learned the devastating power of her molars that day.

We've never properly introduce ourselves but I heard her name from Boss. She's called Summer Rose. Hmm, wait a minute….Summer Rose. If I remember correctly the main character in the web series is called Ruby Rose…..no way…..she has another sister that hasn't appeared in the series!?

Jokes aside, looks like I've found Ruby's mother. Which means she's gonna die at some point in the future.

Oh well, nothing I can do since I have no idea how she died in the first place. Let's just pretend everything's fine and not worry about her eventual demise. If Ruby isn't born yet then I still have many years to find a way home before shit hits the fan. Thinking of sad things would only dampen my mood and motivation after all~

My eyes dart around the cafe, noting that the amount of people around seem to have increased again from yesterday. Normally there would barely be anyone around during this time but thanks to Summer, they came just to look at her in her maid outfit. Yes, they're male. All of them. No wait, I think I spot females among the tables but they seem to be gushing at how cute Summer looked when she's being embarrassed after she was praised by the old lady if the scrolls that they took out to snap pictures with is anything to go by.

Summer's cuteness sure is alluring, even I'm enjoying how happy she would look whenever she was praised. Although whenever I praise her she'd come out hostile towards me for some reason. Sigh~, this is seriously unfair. It must be the shit eating grin I'm always wearing when I'm talking to her. But the only good thing that came out of my attempts to praise her is that even though she's angry at me for something I did, she'd still look as moe as hell. It only serves to make me want to tease her more.

"Oi~ Jerkface, hand me the change for table five." Summer called out in a childish tone with a grin as she place the cash on the counter.

She also started calling me Jerkface for some reason. Must be the shit eating grin I always have after getting her mad.

"Aw~ why are you still calling me jerkface? Are you still mad at me? Even though it's already been a week already." I lightly teased as I grab the money on the counter before turning to the register.

"It's your fault that I'm here in the first place you know." she grumbled, looking away with a cute pout as she cross her arms and puff up her chest.

I grinned at her as the cash register pop open. "Is it really that bad? You get paid at the end of the day, even though half of which is deducted for the repair fee. At least now you don't have to worry about your allowance when you're going to buy something."

"Well, there's that but-." Summer murmured, sounding unsure of herself now as she poke her index fingers together.

"Don't forget about the free cookies during break time." I interrupted gleefully as I watch her froze as she remembered why she wanted to do this in the first place.

"You're right. This part time job isn't so bad after all." She nodded to herself with a small smile. "But I'm still not going to forgive you so easily." she continued as she glared at me halfheartedly, puffing up her cheeks as she did so.

"Oh really?" I challenged while rising an eyebrow with a smirk as I grab the change from the register.

"What's that suppose to mean?" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me, pushing the air that's puffing up her cheeks to one side as she let down her arms.

"Ho~? Do you really wanna know?" I let out. Somehow the atmosphere changed from an average cafe to a cold and chilly room and the entire area around us dimmed. I let my bangs create a shadow over my face as I grinned, turning form the register to face her. With the shadows covering half my face she could only see my devilish grin while I push the register close.

Summer involuntarily took a step back, surprised at the sudden change in atmosphere and a sudden chill crawling down her back. She felt anxious with a drop of sweat suddenly running down her cheek but she couldn't figure out where the feeling was coming from.

Somehow the male in front of her was emitting a dangerous atmosphere, darkening the area around them till only the two of them and the counter between them were visible. His grin was no longer the playful, shit eating one that she was so accustomed to seeing. With his half face hidden by the unnatural shadow, she could only see him smiling, with his teeth showing, his sharp canine was visible as his grin stretch to full proportion. Somehow, during the eerier silence between them, it made her think that he look like a devil that's about to take something important away from her.

Summer saw his teeth slowly part open to speak and braced herself for what's coming.

"Have you ever noticed that your plate of cookies you get during break time is always stacked with more cookies than mine?" he asked in a low eerier tone, his grin never fading from his visage.

Summer pause to think about what he had just said. She vaguely recall seeing her plate of cookies were stacked taller than his but she never really thought much about it. Unless….

Summer eyes widen considerably as she figured out why.

"I see that you noticed." She heard him chuckle. "Well then, since you won't forgive me no matter what, then I guess I should stop sharing half my portion of cookies with you." His grin somehow grew more dastardly as he said that. Unbeknownst to her, his hand let go of the light adjuster hidden behind the counter. It's connected to the ceiling lamp above us right now so he can change the brightness whenever he want. Who knew it would come in handy in times like these when he need a sinister atmosphere.

Summer froze in horror, the expression of dread clearly etched onto her face as lightning flashes behind her. She finally realised that it's much worst than she had thought. She originally planned to forgive him she had already gotten over what happened and hold no animosity towards the black haired teen in front of her. But the idea keeps being put back because of his constant teasing and praises. It kinda made it hard to just outright say it when she's trying her best not to be flustered and snapping at him because she isn't used to being complimented so much. Who would have thought the situation would developed into something so severe.

This is no longer just a simple problem that she kept delaying because of her own embarrassment, it's now a life and death situation! Those extra cookies means everything!

"I forgive you!" she immediately yelped out without thinking as she lean forward and planted both her hands on the counter with a soft bang while her eyes widen in panic. It was then did she registered what she had just said. She quickly look away from the male in front of her. She realised that she made herself seem like a greedy person that had only forgave him because she wanted more cookies. She let her hands slide off the counter and proceed to bury her head in them to hide the shame that's no doubt surfacing on her face.

"You know I was only kidding about the entire thing right?" she suddenly heard him said, accompanied by his faint chuckling. She look up from her hand and glare at the male in front of her, seeing that the lighting has already returned to it's original brightness and he was trying to suppressing his laughter.

"'Sides, even if you didn't forgive me I'd still give me my share since you look so cute when you're munching on them, just like a child." he suddenly informed her with his usual grin. She could feel a blush forming on her face as she started to pout at him with a heated glare.

Summer was glaring at me again with a cute pout while clenching her hands on her skirt. It would seem that I've pressed enough of her buttons to the point where she couldn't think of anything to say and could only glare and pout. But from the swinging of her ahoge I'm guessing that she's happy in someway?

Oh dear, the adorable kitten is mad, whatever shall I do? Should I continue to poke her buttons just to see her get angrier? Or should I try to pacify her with cookies? On one had getting her angry would no doubt shorten my lifespan immensely if she suddenly pounced on me in anger but she would look moe as hell with her puffed up cheeks and blushing. On the other, I would live longer but no moe to be found on that path. Hmm, decisions, decisions. Why must they always be so hard to choose from.

How odd, I find it oddly satisfying to tease her even though she could break my spine in half with her bare hands if she so chooses. Weird, normally I wouldn't even dare get someone angry because I couldn't bother to deal with the fallout. Hell, I wouldn't even dare risk my life just so I could see something cute. But seeing her red faced with embarrassment, it makes my heart flutter with excitement and with the threat of broken bones or at least a sure to lose fight looming around her if she was ever pushed too far, my body felt sense of trill and anticipation that I've never felt before.

Could it be…. that I've found a new hobby to pass the time with?

Ufufufu, life sure is interest- Damn, I sounded like an old pervert right now.

We heard a ring coming from the pickup area, causing Summer to cease her pouting and both of us to turn our head towards where the sound originated from. Placed there was two plates and a green haired lady leaning over the wooden frame with a smirk on her face.

"If you two are done flirting with each other, these plates needs to be delivered to table seven." she pointed at the dishes with her finger.

"We're not flirting!" Summer immediately yelled but Boss had already retreated with faint laughter coming from the kitchen.

"We totally are." I replied with a smirk, knowing that Boss could hear me from inside only for my shoulder to be slapped by a peeved redhead in a maid uniform.

"Ow, hey!" I yelped and turn to see Summer staring at me with what I labeled as 'unamused stare'. "Be careful now. I heard that denial is the first stage of acceptance." I joked with a smug grin only for Summer to reach her hand out and pull my cheek. "Owowowowow, alwight, alwight. I'm swrry." the words slurred out of my mouth as I felt the pain of having my face pulled and my body was being dragged towards her direction so I had to keep myself from falling over. Soon relief came and I almost doubled over because of the sudden release. I turn to pout at Summer while rubbing my redden cheek. She had a smug slime on her face now as she place both her hands on her hips.

"Meanie." I murmured with a huff and she rolled her eyes and hold out her palm.

"Just give me the change already."

"Sure, sure. Here's the change sweety." I place the cash on her outstretch hand.

"I keep telling you that it was a misunderstanding." Summer replied with a red face as she stuff the change in one the pockets the apron provided.

"I know, but I'm going to milk it for all it's worth." I answered her with a laugh. "Anyway, you better get moving, the food isn't going to serve itself." I jerk my thumb towards the dishes for her to see. Summer's only response was to childishly blow a raspberry at me and walk away with a humph.

Heh, how childish.

I responded by pulling my eyelid down and stick my tongue out at her retreating back but quickly revert to a normal carefree expression when I saw her turning her head back.

I'm a hypocrite, sue me.

With my conversation partner gone I return to my original posture and slouch lazily against the counter, watching everything go by slowly. With nothing more to do I decided to people watch to pass my time. Or rather, should I call it Summer watch? Since I'm staring at Summer right now as she's walking towards a table with plates on her hand. Or more accurately, I'm staring at the piece of antenna sticking out of her head. Seriously though, how does it move? It's a mystery that I hope to solve one day. Preferably before I find a way back because I don't think I could live easy not knowing the answer once I made it back.

I'm probably deluding myself into thinking that there actually is a way back because all the other self insert fics that I've read ended up with the SI staying or the fic is on hiatus so I'll never know what happen to them. But hey, you gotta have hope don't ya? Even if it's false.

I turn away from the hypnotizing swinging of Summer's hair and look to the clock, just in time to see the handle strike three.

"Alright then kiddos, break time." Boss's voice came out from the kitchen.

Immediately, Summer's ear perk up like a hunting hound and spun around even though she was in the middle of delivering a customer a plate of food. Needless to say, the plate slip from her hand and landed on the head of the customer she was serving with a splat. I would have reacted more strongly when witnessing something so comical but this is the third time this had happened ever since Summer started working here so my only response was to let out a dry and lazy laugh.

Summer immediately runs off and right pass me before disappearing into the kitchen. The customer who now dons a plate for a hat could only sit in stunned silence as the food slide off his head, dragging his hair along with. Turns out it's a wig.

"Yay~ thanks Aunty May." Summer's happy squeal could be heard from the kitchen. I've found out that Summer and Boss had known each other for years now and Summer has taken a liking to calling the Boss, Aunty.

Right now I don't particularly feel like taking a break, mainly because I wouldn't be able to resist pinching Summer's chibified cheeks when she's stuffing her mouth full, so I'll continue to man the counter until she's done. Today is a very slow day indeed.

I lift my left hand, the one that Summer held a week ago, and stare at it. I remember the feeling clearly. Her hands were warm and quite soft. It would have been nice and all but the only drawback from the hand grabbing is that I could feel my bones being grind into dust by her strength. Again, the girl has some serious strength for someone so tiny.

I clench it and felt the bones pop before relaxing it as I place it on the counter. I let out a smirk as I recalled that no one had held my hand for a long time now. It's kinda comforting really.

"Well, you two seem like you're getting along well." I heard someone commented from behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Heya Boss." I greeted her as I continue to watch the bald customer got up and walk out the door complaining about not being able to eat the food here again. Now that I think about it, I think it was the same guy that got food all over him yesterday when Summer made a mad dash for the cookies. His luck sure is bad.

"Don't call me Boss. It made me sound like some low budget movie villain." Boss let out a dissatisfied huff as she move next to me at the counter. I turn my head around to see her standing on my right as her face scrunched up in annoyance. Boss' wearing what I saw her with when I first met her. Now that I think about it, it's all I ever saw her with. Do the people in this world ever change their clothes at all? Or maybe they just buy many sets of the same clothes?

"Then should I call you Aunty May just like Summer always did?" I gave her a smirk as I said that.

"Pff, no. Try it and I'll deduct your pay." she deadpanned as she lean on the counter with her elbows like me. We're both just being lazy right now but since there isn't anything that needed to be done I guess it's okay. The customers are eating at their own pace, no one's coming in and every table is already served and tended to.

"Then how come she can?" I pointed out, remembering the number of times Summer called her that.

Boss let out an amused snort, I can see her shooting me a smirk. "That's because she's cute and you're not." she stated like it's suppose to be a fact.

What with this unfair treatment I'm getting just because I'm not as cute as Summer? I could shed a tear right then and there to show how much her words would have hurt me but I don't really give a damn. "So, you think we get along well?" I asked in a curious tone as I met her eye, not really believing her because so far I've been a very dastardly friend that find amusement in her embarrassment and cuteness.

"Sure thing. If she wanted, she could have sent you to the hospital plenty of times. She may look small but the girl is one terrifying fighter when it comes down to it."

"I don't think that has anything to do with us getting along well but rather it just show how much of a high tolerance she has for annoying people." I let out a dry laugh. "Sides. every time I praise her she would get mad and I'd have to fear for my life."

Boss let out a chuckle "Nah, she's not mad at all. She's just not used to being teased so much by a guy. She's mostly harmless." she informed me with a smirk.

I raise an eyebrow towards me before rolling up my sleeve on my right arm. "Look at all the bruises she had caused me and say that again." I deadpanned as I pointed at my slightly red forearm. They aren't actually bruises by the way, just impact mark from Summer's slap that would fade into nothing in a few minutes.

"Oh, stop being such a baby. You're a man aren't you?" Boss scoffed.

"So, what brought this up?" I asked, knowing that she wouldn't just talk about trivial things just to pass the time. Something must have gotten her to start this conversation. But what? Oh wait. "This is about Summer isn't it?"

Boss nodded and turn to look in front of us and I decided to do the same. "She might be innocent and naive but she's actually pretty sharp. So your crude attempts to make her avoid you just might have the opposite effect."

Hearing her words, my body tensed unwillingly. I can tell that my eyes were widen as I struggle to keep a straight face while staring out the window in a nonchalant manner. I could also tell that I've failed and Boss noticed my odd behavior. "I have no idea what you're talking about." I denied her accusation even thought I knew it's mostly pointless by now.

Boss let out a smile, pretending not to notice and letting out a light-hearted 'hmm'. "You know, you two are quite alike in some ways."

"Ho~? I don't think we're anything alike Boss." I replied, feinting disinterest and still confused as to how Boss knew what I was trying to do.

"Oh really?" Boss lean down on the counter, resting her chin on her forearms as she turn her head around to gave me a raised eyebrow. "From what I know of our cute little redhead, she tends to hide her doubts and insecurities behind her cheerfulness. While you, my little mysterious employee," she pointed at me with her finger with a cheerful tone."likes to hide your worries and confusion behind a mask of indifference."

Shit, how did she know? I was certain that I was hiding it well. Sure I may think about if it's even possible to return or not get dragged into the plot but I'm sure that I didn't let it show on my face.

"I don't know what's troubling you but maybe one day you could share it with someone. Like a certain someone that keeps coming back to talk to you even though you're purposely annoying her just so she wouldn't get too close to you." The Boss continued, either unaware or choosing to ignore the perplexed expression that I'm making.

A thought suddenly crossed my mind and I stare at my Boss with well hidden suspicion. Was she trying to figure me out? Considering that I just pop out of nowhere I don't think that's weird at all. Maybe she had asked around if anyone actually knows me or maybe even went to the police. Now she's either curious or suspicious that she couldn't find anything about me.

Wait, was she trying to get me to tell Summer my deepest darkest secrets? If I told Summer that I'd from another world or dimension how will she react? Will she treat me differently? Will I get weird looks? Or will it be much worst than I could think of. Somehow the thought of being enemies with Summer scares me.

What about Boss then? She'd probably grind the info out of Summer if I told her anything at all. Or maybe bribe her with cookies, that will totally be more effective than any other method or torture. Then they'd think I'm crazy or a lunatic and decide that a mental asylum would be the safest place to put me in.

I'll need to be more careful from now on.

"Eh, not interested. Beside, it's not like we're friends or anything." I tried to keep my suspicion from leaking into my voice as I lazily watch the customers. I could see Boss frowning from my peripheral vision but it was gone just as soon as it appeared. She pushes herself up and turn her body towards me, leaning against the counter with her elbow while her other hand was placed on her hips. She looked like she was about to say something but held it in at the last moment. I could hear a sigh escaping from her lips before she push herself off the counter.

"Just treat her well ya hear? Otherwise you're going to get it." she warned in a light hearted tone, one normally reserved for joking around and yet it somehow manage to sound very menacing, sending a chill running down my spine. I wonder if it's because of the sharp look she's giving me.

But still, I push the feeling aside and replied with a grin. "I thought warning boys off was suppose to be the father's job."

Boss just smiled as she turn around and started walking away "Oh you wished. You'll find that I'm much more merciful than her old man. If it's her father that came to warn you about getting close to his baby girl then you'd mysteriously disappear for half a day and when you're found, you'd be covered in your own piss and shit while sucking on your thumb like a frightened baby like the other guys who were interested in her."

"Wait, it happened before?" I exclaimed in surprise, lifting myself up to stare at Boss in disbelief and with parted jaw.

"Plenty of times." Boss just answered nonchalantly before walking towards the back. "The authorities never found out who did it or what happened to them." she finished as she walked into the kitchen.

Welp, looks like those who were going after that fine piece of ass will have a surprise waiting for them in the form of an overprotective father. Thank god I value my life more than my libido.

The area return back to it's previous peaceful silence save for the soft chatter of the customers and the clanking of utensils hitting the plates. I am alone with my own thoughts once again. I find myself thinking about the foreseeable future but I immediately steer my mindset away from that path as forcefully as I could. Thinking too much about what would or could happen could only bring nothing but worry and irritation the way I am right now.

Just focus on the present.

The first thing I need is access to the net, apparently it actually exist but I don't have the applications to use it. Earning enough lien to buy myself a scroll seem to be the only thing I can do. I asked about the price before and did the calculations. I'll need to work at least three months here if I ever wanted to purchase it.

Then again, I suck at math so I may be wrong.

I stretch my own body, causing my spine to make a satisfying pop and I release a happy sigh. Oh well, one thing at a time I guess. It's not like I've actually planned for the future before. So, plan for the day: Survive. I guess I just have to get past today without provoking Summer too much even though it would be fun. It's going to be a long and boring day but who knows, maybe I'd get lucky and something interesting would happen today.

I could feel another yawn coming and I did nothing to stop it. I slump lazily back onto the counter and waited for the time to pass.

Hmm~ I suppose life is fine as it is for now. I got a job, got a roof under my head, got a very cute coworker to tease whenever I want, getting death threats from protective Aunts, and a bleak future if season three of RWBY is anything to go by. Wish I've actually watch it instead of just reading the parts of the wiki so I would know what to expect.

So how long do I have before shit hits the fan? When Ruby reached fifteen? Is there a bomb shelter somewhere in Remnant I bunker down in when it happens? So many questions, so little answer.

My ears perked up when I heard the front door being open, accompanied by the sound of the bell hanging above it. I turn away from whatever I was looking to see who had entered and had to suppress an annoyed sigh.

Oh great, the silver haired dude is here again. You know, when I asked for something interesting to happen I meant something good, not annoying or tiring. He's been coming over more often ever since that day. He's most likely here to goat or annoy me but thankfully, I've long since developed a very neat skill to deal with that problem.

Ignoring mode: ON

 **-0-**

 **End of chapter. Please leave a review. XD**


	2. Did Somebody Ordered A Mascot Character?

**Chapter 2: Did somebody ordered a mascot character?**

I heard the bell to the front door rung as I was minding my own business in the kitchen.

I had a knife in one hand and a basket of vegetables on the other. With years of practice back home, I was able to cut them up neatly rather quickly and placed the chopped veggies in the fridge for later use.

I could hear two people talking outside but since they weren't talking very loudly, I couldn't hear what they were talking about and the door and walls between us muffled their conversation even more. But since it's none of my business as to what they were talking about, I ignored it in favor of arranging the cooking utensils so that they are more easily accessible when I need them.

A short while later, I heard someone calling for me.

"Hey kid, your package's here." I heard Boss' voice call out from outside the kitchen and I immediately perked up. A grin was plastered on my face as I drop what I was doing and head straight outside with wide strides.

It was very early in the morning, the sun had just shone through the horizon and coating the world in a beautiful golden glow and we were preparing for the shop for a new day of business...and also to fend off the ever growing horde of caffeine zombies.

They are seriously multiplying in numbers and we have no way to stop them. We even have to set up barricades by the windows so that they don't break through just to cut in line.

Okay, I admit that I was exaggerating there a bit but still, we had to put tables outside just to accommodate the growing customers. Normally any business owner would be happy with the increasing amount of customers since they get to earn more money but not me. It just means that I have more work to do.

Yes, I know I'm lazy and I'm quite proud of it.

Right now it's the calm before the storm. The cafe isn't opened yet and there's no people outside stalking the place like hungry beasts, waiting for it to open so they could pounce on their prey. Unless they're ninjas of course. If they were then we would never see them coming as they steal our caffeine hidden in the back.

I don't know whether or not if Remnant have ninjas but I don't wanna find out. They could be everywhere, watching my every move without me knowing, waiting for an opportune moment to strike. I don't need that kind of paranoia in my life right now, especially when it's already complicated as it is.

We have time to relax before the inevitable two hour long zombie apocalypse before they were given the temporary cure a.k.a caffeine. Usually we use the time to prepare things like brewing the coffee, preparing the food ingredients, last minute cleaning, placing the machine gun emplacement and preparing the pitfalls filled with spikes.

Oh wait, the last two never happened.

I swing open the double doors to the kitchen and walk right out without pause.

The first thing I saw was an empty shop with chairs and tables neatly arranged. The whole place were barely visible in the dim lighting the place have as the lights weren't turned on yet and the only light source was the faint rays shining through the window. Then I saw a green haired woman with a ponytail wiping the windows with a rag of cloth and a bottle spray in her hands.

"Where is it?" I asked, unable to keep the excitement and eagerness from my tone as my eyes dart around the place looking for said package.

"I left it on the shelf." was the reply that I got and my eyes immediately dart to the left. There was a bookshelf there for anyone that fancy reading something when they're here. They weren't really a wide selection of things to read about but at least they would have something to fill the time with when they're chilling.

I saw a box roughly the size of my torso placed one of the shelves and quickly dart over towards it. "Yes!" I exclaimed as I ran, ignoring the amused shake of Boss' head as she rolled her eyes at my childish behavior.

I took said box in my hands and stare at it with anticipation shining in my eyes, a feeling of satisfaction and happiness swelling within my chest as I realised all my hard work here finally got results.

It lasted for two whole seconds before I place it on one of the tables and tore open the box like how you would when you gut open an animal.

What's in the box that manged to get me so worked up you ask?

Porn.

No really. It's porn.

… Alright fine, it's a brand new Scroll that I ordered last week. The latest model too, not that I could see any difference between the old and the new mind you. Three months of hard work gone down the drain as I used up every bit of my savings to buy the damn thing.

Then again, since it's supposedly connected to the internet I wasn't lying when I said it's porn.

Yes, it has been three months since I found myself in this place. There hasn't been much development other than the fact that I found out that you could just go to the library to use their computers free of charge instead of just buying a scroll to surf the net.

But instead of saving money that could be used for something else and going there to do research, I bought a scroll for my own personal use instead.

Why?

Because I can. That and the fact that I really don't wanna go out. If possible I would rather stay indoors all day, everyday. But that is a very distant dream as Boss would sometimes order me to do the grocery run along with Junior because I can't be trusted with finding my way there.

We became acquainted during those three months. Still no idea why he looked as shady as fuck though.

He did look familiar to me somewhat and I did wonder if he's from the main series or something but for the life of me I can't remember. Most of the plot from RWBY has already escaped me as I've never even watched the show besides a few episodes from the first season. The rest of the information I got from the series are from Wiki pages and fanfictions and I have no idea how much of the latter that I've read is actually canon or already changed.

I've spend a few days trying to remember it but gave up afterwards when I remembered that I'm in the past and it would take years before I reach the start of canon. I'll most likely be dead at the point because I did something stupid so why bother.

It's a rather negative view on things but at least it's a realistic one. I just keep getting the feeling that I'm going to be drag into something big at some point since it's the curse or blessing, depending on how you look at it, of a self-inset; so I'm enjoying life while I still can.

"Don't just go and rip the box open kid. It can still be reused for other things." I heard Boss complained as my hands stopped in their tracks.

"A bit too late for that don't cha think?" I commented wryly as I look at the poorly opened box that looked like someone's had just thrown fireworks inside.

At least the contents of the box was revealed. Within the box is...another box. A much small one that could fit in the mail slot of an apartment door.

"Why the heck would they use such a big box to transport something so small?" I couldn't help but ask out loud, my voice filled with confusion as I turn to face the lady behind me.

She just shrugged at me and I return my attention back at the smaller box. I opened that one too, expecting to see the handheld device that I've ordered at the electronics shop that Junior brought me to.

He works as a guide sometimes that helps me immensely because like I've said before, I am shit with directions. The first time I was asked to do a grocery run without any supervision I ended up in the Red light district which is the exact opposite direction of where the supermarket was. Since I was already there I did try and enter a Stripclub but got kicked out by the security guard because of my age.

Rude bastard.

But hey, at least I saw titties before I left.

Sadly, they were ridiculously saggy because they belonged to an old lady. Who the fuck in their right mind would hire an old lady to be a stripper!? Does someone have that kind of fetish in there or something or are they just that desperate for workers!?

Anyho, putting aside my traumatic experience at the strip club, I'm currently staring at the contents of the small box with very carefully hidden confusion. Because what I saw inside looked just like a silver stick. I ordered a phone but got a stick instead. Three months of paycheck gone down the drain just like that.

"Kid, you looked like you've just stepped on dog shit." Boss noted my expression and I just gave her a deadpanned look with narrowed eyes. And here I thought it was carefully hidden.

"Aren't you going to turn it on?" she asked, nodding at the silver stick inside the box.

"Wait, what?" I couldn't help but voiced out. Start a silver stick? What the hell? Does this mean that I actually got my order but have no idea how to use it? But it looks nothing remotely like a smartphone. Is there so sort of hidden function to made it change shape like all the weapons did in this world? How on ear-Remnant am I suppose to turn on a stick? Seduce it? Give it a striptease? Wank it like I'm wanking junior? Not that Junior, I'm not gay.

"Why haven't you start it up yet? You still have to set up your own number before it could be used you know." Boss explained as she cross her arms in front of her chest and raise an eyebrow. Her emerald eyes look at me like she's dealing with an idiot with no common sense. To be fair, I'm not from this world so common sense is beyond my reach at this moment even after spending months here.

"I haven no idea how to use it." I admitted as I held the stick between by two fingers, placing it near by face as I stare at it, hoping that it would do something if I stare long enough.

I heard a very long sigh coming from the lady and I turn to face her with a raised eyebrow. "What? You and I both know that I'm semi retarded. Why are you so surprise that I have no clue how a scroll works." At this point in time I was no longer trying to hide the fact that I have no clue on how things works. Not that I was doing a very good job in the very beginning in the first place mind you. Side's everyone already knew that I understood nothing so why bother pretending to know how shit works and fail miserably later on.

"You've been here for three months. There are plenty of people using their Scrolls here that you could observe. How could you not know how it works?"

"To be fair, I really wasn't paying attention as I was too self absorbed with teasing Summer or falling asleep. Also, when others use their Scrolls they were the size of their palm or a tablet. This looks like a very expensive throwing stick you could play with your pet dog." I told her, waving the stick in front of her.

Boss swipe the stick from my hand and, without any other words to describe it, extended it by pulling the two ends of the stick before handing it back to me.

I stare at the device in my hands in absolute wonder. Visibly, they are nothing more than a translucent, touch-sensitive panel between two solid end grips. It appears that the interlocking design of these grips allows the unit to be collapsible.

I collapse them before extending them again, enjoying the clicking sound that it made whenever the two grip connects and disconnects. The action repeats itself for a few time as I play with it like an over curious child. So that's why they're called Scrolls. Neat.

My playtime was interrupted when someone whack the back of my head and I nearly dropped my super expensive throwing stic- I mean Scroll.

"Ow." I cried out in a monotonous voice as it really wasn't painful.

"Stop playing around and get the registration over with. We still have work to do you know." Boss reminded me of the impending apocalypse due in half an hour and I couldn't help but feel a pang of annoyance at having to deal with more irritating people. I continue to stare at the Scroll despite Boss' prompting as I realised that there is still one issue that I have regarding the device in my hands.

I slowly turn my head away from the device in my hands and look into her eyes with a serious expression on my face. Blue eyes met emerald ones as I hold out the Scroll towards her with two hands like how someone would hand out their business card. "I still have no idea how it works."

 **-0-**

After Boss gave me the 'How to use Scroll 101, the dumb down version' in a way would damage anyone's ego, not that I have one, I was kneeling in despair, both hands along with my scroll on the ground in front of me.

Because during the explanation I was told one very important thing about my Scroll. I kinda stopped listening to her after hearing that piece of news so the rest of what she had said on how to use it may or may not have gone out the other ear.

There's no internet access.

I've bought the wrong model.

I slowly let my forehead rest against the floor as water threaten to flow out of my tear ducts. My hands curled into a fist as they tremble. Boss was looking at me worriedly by the side but did nothing at all. She look at me and towards the unfinished work that she had and eventually made a decision.

She went back to cleaning as I continue to fight against the anguish from overwhelming me.

Three months of hard work...gone because of my carelessness. My Scroll allows most functions like most smartphones back in my world but couldn't do the only thing that I've bought it for. How am I suppose to search for information regarding a way home without arousing suspicion now?

I can't do that in the library because the things that you search there get recorded and possibly tracked down. People might ask questions, eyes might turn my way and I might attract the wrong kind of people. There's still a lot of things that I'm weary of in this world and the government is one of them. I never trusted the government back in my world because the corruption runs deep and I get a distinctive feeling that it's the same here. People might be able to track my Scroll too but according to Junior there are ways to prevent that. Not sure how he knew that thought but whatever.

"Was it really that important for you to surf the net?" I heard Boss ask as she clean the remaining windows. I turn my head to the side, my face still touching the ground and saw her looking at me while her arms are still wiping the grease stain on the glass.

"Yes." I answered her.

"You can just go to the library for that too you know." she reminded me.

"Can't." I answered sadly with a groan.

"Why not?" A hint of confusion entered her voice.

"Looking for porn." I lied with a perfectly straight face.

"Oh." She deadpanned and completely ignored me after that and I returned to my sadness induced moping.

The bell to the front door suddenly rung and Summer walk though in her usual Huntress grab, not that I notice as I was still busy feeling sorry for my wallet. "Hey guys, ready for another day of- Aunt May, what the heck happened to him?" She stopped what she was about to say when she noted the black haired teen that's slumping on the ground, which would be me and turn to look at Boss with a perplexed expression.

"Ignore him." Boss answered without even looking at me. "Why don't you get change and get yourself ready for the day, drag the kid to the kitchen first while you're at it."

"Okay?" Summer answered, sounding confused about what's going on but nevertheless did what Boss said.

My moping was interrupted when I feel someone dragging the back of my collar. I immediately grab my Scroll so that it doesn't get left behind when I was drag away and turn to face whoever's pulling me away like a sack. I saw a cute female, about the age of fifteen with short black hair with red highlights and bright silver eyes. There's also an ahoge on top of her head that seem to be moving on it's own.

"Oh, hey Summy." I greeted her with one of the many nicknames that I came up for her cheerfully, the earlier despair gone at the sight of my coworker. Then it came back in full force when I realised that Summer being here meant we're about to start working soon and I would have to endure another day of filled with boredom and some bothersome customers.

They would made very specific requirements in their meals and when you get even one wrong they would flip out or something. Don't they understand that this is a cafe and not some fancy restaurant? Just thinking about the day ahead of me kinda reminds me of that Sill guy who doesn't get the message that I'm not even remotely interested in him or his stories of past glories. I mean I even laced his food and drinks with laxatives and he still comes back to bother me. If I were to label him as something then I'd label him as a cloud. Once it's gone it's a beautiful day~

"Jerkface." she greeted back chirpily with a nickname she came up for me. So early in the morning and already in a good mood. As expected of Summer. I wonder what's her secret on keeping such a positive attitude but then I saw some cookie crumbs on her face and found the answer.

"You know eating cookies for breakfast is a bad diet right?" I pointed out.

Summer just huffed incredulously at me "Nonsense, cookies are the best thing to have for breakfast."

"For the taste maybe, but you won't grow taller if you keep it up though." I snickered.

"Ugh." Summer made a sound like she had been stabbed by something. "I-I'm sure I'll hit my growth spurt soon." she shuttered as she told me though I get a feeling that she's trying to convince herself that.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that shorty. Maybe it'll come true one day." A wide grin was plastered on my face as I struggle not to laugh.

"Zip it, Jerkface. You know I'm sensitive about my height." She pouted with a faint red hue on her face. "And you're not so tall either." she added.

True, considering the fact that I'm only half a head taller then her at the moment.

"Well, unlike you, I don't care about my height. Besides, I eat a properly so I'd grow up just fine, unlike a certain someone I know but won't mention." I quipped.

Now that I think about it, no one had ever called me by my name yet since I came here.

Weird, but kinda cool since it's like I'm one of those nameless protagonist that get called by nicknames by his companions or by his titles. Boss just calls me Kid while Summer calls me Jerkface and Junior never really talks to me unless I start the conversation but it's more like I talk and he grunts in return, effectively keeping our conversations short.

Very mysterious indeed. I wonder what he's hiding.

"So, think anything interesting is going to happen today?" I asked as Summer continues to drag me. Also, my ass feels a bit warm because of the friction. Hope it doesn't catch on fire.

"You ask me that everyday. Don't you ever get tired of that?" Summer replied with a crooked eyebrow as she turn her head sideways to look at me.

I tilt my head backwards so that our eyes would meet. "Eh, I get bored easily. Nothing I can do about that." I shrugged with a smile. "So, what's you answer?"

Summer put on a thoughtful look, closing her eyes and placing a finger on her cheek as she tilts her head slightly to the side. "Well, nothing much happened for after Wig guy finally grew hair taking a bite of 'Hell's Nectar' last week so I'm going to say no." She concluded.

If you're wondering what that was about then allow me to explain. Wig guy, as the name implies is bald and wears a wig. An afro sudden exploded from his head when he took a bite out of the newest addition in the menu (It was taken out of the menu within the first hour) called Hell's Nectar. It's basically every spicy thing I could find in the kitchen tossed into the pot as some sort of experiment.

It was bright red like lava, cooked till boiling bubbles were escaping from the pot and is hot enough that the wooden spoon that I use to stir the contents spontaneously combusted and turned into ashes within seconds.

Figuring that it would be a waste to throw it away, I put it in the menu along with warnings and disclaimers that we would not be responsible for any damage if you were to order it.

And yes, I thought it was a good idea to test it on people. Yes, I have issues, I know. I have had very interesting results from the people who ate it though, so that's always a plus.

Then I was banned from every experimenting with food without any supervision.

Good times really, good times.

"Oh well at least I can still hope." I said with a small wishful smile on my face, one that went unnoticed by Summer as she had already look back in front of her.

Hope, hope of making it back home safe and sound. As soon as I got the resources that I need I'm going to leave to find a way back. I can't possible hope to survive for long in this world filled with creatures of the night and soon to be born terrorist group *Cough Whitefang Cough* and I don't fancy meeting my end via giant teeth of a Grimm either.

There are things to prepare, plans to be made and mostly, information to search for. I doubt I could accomplish them within the year but it's alright, I have time.

Time is all I have now.

 **-0-**

"This sucks." I murmured in a tired tone as I slump on the counter listlessly.

Lunch hour is already over and there are absolutely no one here. I have nothing left to do as every table is already cleaned and the dishes washed. Boss took Summer away to buy more supplies and I'm left all alone in this place.

With my usual teas- banter companion gone I'm left with nothing to do here until someone comes in. Even then it would probably only take a few minutes to serve the customers needs and I would be left with waiting for more to come in.

Next to my face on the counter is my Scroll, compacted and turned off. The silver stick sat there, reflecting light off it's surface like a mirror as I narrowed my eyes at it. Without any access to the internet it might as well be with an over expensive throwing stick. It's not like I have anyone to call to pass the time with nor are they any apps that already installed that I could play with.

I've already messed around with the settings and such and had already explored everything that it has to offer, which isn't much by the way, seeing that it's still brand new and all. The piece of crap doesn't even have any ringtones in it that I could listen to.

I would have been better off saving my money and buying that delicious looking snack back at the Supermarket.

To think that the company who made the Scroll made a mistake with their latest model and needed an entire month to fix the problem so that it could access the internet like it's suppose to.

Oh well, at least it's still a working phone…not that it would do me any good as I have no friends at all… Maybe I could ask for Summer's number and annoy her whenever she's gone. Good news is I can finally the those blackm- cute photos that Boss took of Summer. I'll go ask her when she comes back. Preferably in front of Summer just for the lawlz.

"This seriously sucks." I repeated with a sigh as one hand went to poke at the over glorified throwing stick. It slide to the side a bit with a clutter but did nothing else and my hand slump down next to it listlessly.

But my bored expression was quickly replaced with one filled with alarm as I got the feeling that I'm being watched somehow. Then feeling of annoyance came because I knew just what's going to happen and it did.

My thoughts suddenly shifted, my emotions forcefully calmed down and I fought back a grimace at all the data that suddenly shoved itself into my mind just to filled every crevice available. Plans started forming inside my subconscious, ready to be called upon when needed; ways to escape, ways to fight back, tactics to be used, maneuver that could be pulled off with my surroundings.

I sighed as I let the surge of information pass so I could clear my thoughts again. This is one of the other things that I've found myself with other than the odd instant calming that prevented me from having a break down. Somehow my mind worked differently than before. Whenever I got into trouble or suspect that I might be in trouble, my mind would come up with ways for me to get out of it on it's own.

Sadly, non of the ideas that was formed could never be pulled off by some physically weak person like me. I mean seriously, one of the plans that was formed requires me to do the split at the right moment. I'd probably bust a testicle trying that and most of them requires me to be fit otherwise I wouldn't be able to pull off the follow up action.

What the hell brain? Why give me all those ideas when you know I could never pull it off? Even if I could I would probably already died because I got distracted by it and took too long to choose which one to use.

Yes brain, I know that it could be solved if I've just exercised but have you ever seen me exercise before? Because I tell you man, you would be cringing like there's no tomorrow and would feel embarrassed for me because I obviously couldn't care less with other people's opinion on what I do. I'd probably be running like a retarded Titan or something.

Too bad there's no explanation on how that mind thing works. Otherwise I would have turned it off already because it's really tiring especially when it's not even a real threat.

There was one time I almost stepped on a puddle of water because I didn't noticed it and wanted to avoid it. Then the planning mode came. So many things barged into my head and one even requires me to do a front flip. A freaking front flip! Needless to say I stepped on the puddle and got my trousers wet because I was distracted. Thanks god for small miracles that it wasn't dog poop.

I let out an annoyed groan as I slowly straighten myself, my Scroll grabbed and placed back into my pocket. It's probably just someone looking in through the window again and it happens more time that I care to count in these three months that I've been here.

I slowly look out to to the front of the store with slight anxiety, hoping that it wasn't that Sill guy again and let out a sigh in relief when I found out that it wasn't.

I saw someone out there like I had expected, peering through the window and trying to look into the cafe. But to my surprise, it was a kid or at least I think it's a kid because the fellow's height didn't even reach my stomach.

Since the glass was reflecting light off it and preventing me from seeing just who it was from the other side I decided that I might as well find out seeing that I have nothing better to do at the moment. At least the kid isn't going 'Dude, let me in. I'm a fairy.'

Alright brain, it's a false alarm like always so stop sending me ways to brutally murder someone with a ketchup bottle. I'm sure I'll never be able to pull it off nor is it even physically possible in the first place even if you repeatedly assure me that it is.

And thus, now relaxed that there is no potential stalker somewhere (mostly a guy named Sill), the ideas that came from nowhere vanished just as abruptly, leaving my head clear for me to think normally again.

I walk over to the door, noticing that the kid wasn't even looking at me as she kept on staring through the window. Her face was glued on the screen, creating an amusing image that you'd normally get when you press your own face against glass. The face of a demon I tell you. Also, the glass is foggy because of her breath just in case anyone wanna know.

I noticed that she was a girl because she was currently wearing a dress… Unless it's actually boy that's crossdressing, I certain that the kid in front of me is a girl.

But do I really want to test my luck on that? I mean it is entirely possible that it's a guy instead but what are the odds of that ever happening again? Yes, again. It happened before.… and did I just jinxed myself?

God damn it.

Oh well, nothing I can do about that now.

Feeling curious at what she was looking at, I tried to follow her line of sight and shifted my head around. I saw that she was gazing at the cakes on display. Thinking that she's (Or secretly a he) either hungry or is just admiring the beautiful snacks on display but upon seeing the drool on her face I concluded that it's the former.

I opened the glass door and stepped outside, the bell attached on top was ringing when it was moved. The sound alerted the girl and she jumped up in surprise at the sudden noise before turning to face the source quickly.

I saw panic and then slight guilt flash before her face when she saw me. It reminded me of the times I was caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar by my mother and look down in shame while vowing to be better at being sneaky. But that was before and I was young and uncorrupted by the internet. Nowadays I would continue eating it in front of her and give zero fucks about how she was cross with me as we have our stare down. If you've survived a synchronized period of the women in your family, you can survive anything...-ish.

With her face no longer plastered on the glass I can now properly see what she looked like.

The girl's age remained unknown to me because all kids looked about the same to me and I usually just make a wild guesses by using the list of growth stages that I've come up with. Like seriously, I label a kid's age with stages. At birth they are like deformed potatoes and after a few weeks they are like a kawaii potatoes then they would be adorable and energetic little chihuahua on all four and- oh wait, getting side tracked here.

The girl had a light brown complexion that made her look like she spend a lot of time out in the sun. Her hair was brown and short, just barely touching her shoulders. She had a pair of brown eyes and a small little dot which I suspected to be a beauty mark below her left eye.

She's wearing a white-ish blouse that's a bit brown with frills at the end of her long sleeves; she has the same coloured skirt that reached her knees and childish brown sneakers that have pictures of cartoon heroes on them. Heh, cute. She looked just like a dress up doll as she stood rigidly still in front of me. I don't doubt that she would grow up into a beauty just fine. It's kinda the norm here as everyone just grows up into a supermodel or something. Unless you're a background character of course. Because those dude are usually just black silhouettes that walk around unless I focus on them.

It's a tad bit scary now that I think about it. I think some of them even looked the same. Hell, I even thought I saw my own shadow walking around amidst the crowd but I just dismissed it after a while.

I'm guessing that the girl is a main character or something because she's not a silhouette looking through the glass when I look out. I saw that scene plenty of times and it's freaky at first but I got used to it. I really don't like it when they smile at me and wave when they noticed that I was looking at them though.

Imagine a black shadowy figure just outside your window, smiling at you without a face with it's teeth showing as it wave at you.

Nightmare material I tell you.

With that said, she look just like the run of the mill kid that I would normally see everywhere. She, like everyone else in this world, seem to be following some sort of colour scheme. Totally unlike me, as I would wear whatever I want no matter the colour... except pink of course.

Fuck pink.

Purple's okay though.

She looked tensed and most likely about to run away if I made any sudden movement. She thought that she was in trouble, I could tell just by the look on her face. I gave her a disarming smile as I put up hands up in a non-threatening manner. Seeing that I was in no way mad at her for something she thought she shouldn't had done, she visible calmed down a bit but still look at me with caution.

I crouch down after moving the apron that I'm wearing aside so that I would be at the same level as her and look around with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey there kiddo. Where's your parents?" I asked as I look into her eyes. She look at me with a distrustful stare and a frown. She seem to be thinking of an answer as I tilt my head to the side questioningly, trying to make myself seem as nonthreatening as possible.

I haven't seen anyone around that's worried about their kid is talking to a stranger and is accusing me of being a pedophile so I'm guessing that her parents' aren't nearby. It would be a very irresponsible thing to do to leave a kid on their own. But then again, Vale is a safe-ish place for kids to wander around to play with their friends if you exclude the criminal elements that I just so happen to find out about accidentally. They won't kidnap kids without a really good reason because the Huntsmen and Huntress are usually very good at tracking them down if they did.

I'd rather not risk it though. Keep her close by for now until either her parents showed up and failing that...well I'll think of something soon, hopefully.

Even so, I think she's a wee bit too young to be left to her own devices and I don't see anyone that could be her friend anywhere. Is she lost? Should I keep her company until her parents find her? I'm going to need more details from her first though.

"Mummy said I shouldn't talk to strangers." she finally replied, still looking guarded and taking a step back. I gave her an understanding nod as I rubbed my chin. She's feeling apprehensive and for good reasons too.

"Smart woman." I told her. Gotta give props to the mother for teaching her what she should and shouldn't. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, there are ways to deal with that. Especially when you're talking to a naive little child that just look so innocent and uncorrupted.

"Very well then." I said in a mysterious tone as I prop my elbows on my knees and rest my chin on my entwined fingers. I glace at her with a mischievous smile and continued. "My name's Alex, what's yours?" And there goes the longest record of me not introducing myself. Shame, but if my plan worked then I would at least get her name.

"Mine's Amber." she introduced herself to me in a rather chirpily tone and completely unaware that she was already talking to a stranger. "You have a strange name." She added with a giggle, placing both her hands to cover her mouth.

"That's a good name you have there." I nodded, thinking if I know anyone by that name but nothing came up. Then I realised what she had said about mine. "And my name is not strange." I let out an annoyed huff as I cross my arms and look away pouting, ignoring her giggles. The colour naming rule. One of the reasons why I didn't introduce myself I suppose. The other reason was because no one ever asked. In hindsight I should have used a fake name but eh, what done is done.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" I asked in total seriousness, the playful look on my face was gone and I put on the straightest face that I've ever worn since I've first arrived in Remnant. Gotta be certain after all, traps are everywhere nowadays.

"Girl." she answered, looking at me like I'm stupid which, by the way, I'm not. I just have trust issues when it comes to gender. I blame trip to Thailand for that. Never hit on a girl there unless you're absolutely certain that it's a girl and didn't have anything hanging between her tights.

Thankfully my jinx didn't take effect and Amber's actually a girl….it just means it would take effect later wouldn't it?

"Well then, since we both know each other a bit now that means we're not strangers anymore." I turn my sights back to her once I'm done feeling like an idiot for not coming up with an alias, my shit eating grin already in place. "So now you can talk to me without worrying about your mother being mad since you're technically, not talking to a stranger."

The girl was clearly baffled at my logic as her face twisted into a confused frown. "But I just met you." she said as she cutely tilt her head to the side and purse her lips to the side.

"Ah," I let out in a smug tone. "but how can we still be strangers if we already know each other?" I asked while wriggling an eyebrow. "A stranger is someone you do not know but since you know me now it means we're acquainted, so me being a stranger is out of the question." I declare haughtily in a childish manner.

Do I feel embarrassed for being so childish you ask?

Nope, I have no shame.

"Achqwanted?" she said as she narrowed her eyes in concentration, testing her tongue to find the correct pronunciation of what I had said and failed miserably in an adorable way.

Must, resist, glomping the chibi child in front of me! Resist it! Resist it I say!

"Acquainted." I repeated what she had tired to say properly for her while suffocating that strange desire with an imaginary pillow. "It means we're not really friends yet not unfamiliar with each other enough to be considered strangers. And since we're not strangers to each other anymore that means you can talk with me ya?"

Amber just grew more confused and place both her tiny hands on her head as she tries to understand my logic. "I guess so?" She finally said hesitantly.

"Excellent!" I exclaimed as I smirked victoriously. Heh, kids. Always so easy to fool. "Now then, can you tell me why you're here all alone instead of being with your parents?"

I saw Amber grab the helm of her skirt. She slowly look down with a small pout on her face as she kicked a small rock nearby. "I got lost while shopping with mummy." she muttered sadly.

Jeez, parents these days. They should at least watch their kids more carefully so this doesn't happen. Don't they know children have short attention spans? They would probably be distracted by any shiny objects as they walk together and get left behind because they stopped and stare.

"Do you know where was the last place you saw her?" Usually that's the best place to start looking when you're separated from your parents. I have plenty of experience myself even when I'm already an adult. Yes, I still get lost when shopping with my mummy, laugh all you want.

Amber shook her head dejectedly at my question, looking sadder with each passing moment.

Oh well, looks like that's not an option here. Amber did well to last this long without panicking and turning into a sobbing mess. But if she did, wouldn't she gotten help sooner or attract the attention of the parent that was unaware that her child was missing? Looks like I'll have to think of another way to reunite her with her mother but I don't think I can leave the shop unmanned for too long nor can I close it on my own without any permission. I can't call to ask Boss for advices on how to deal with lost children because I don't have her number yet. Now that I think about I haven't even register a phone number for my Scroll yet.

That Scroll that I bought is really starting to look more useless than ever.

My mulling was interrupted when I heard a loud growling noise nearby.

 ***GRRRRRAAAAWR***

I immediately sprung up from my crouching position feeling startled and alert.

Holy lonely pony eating a macaroni! That sounded like a Nazi T-Rex stepping on a lego block while it's trying to correct someone's grammar. Was it a Grimm!? We're in the middle of a god damned city, why the heck is there a Grimm nearby!? Why aren't the Huntsmen doing their job properly!? I'm so not prepared to face something like that r-

Of course, not even halfway though my panic that weird mind stuff turned on and I calmed down immediately. It's really tiring when your emotions keeps shifting like that without warning. One moment you're scared out of your wits at the prospect of facing a spawn from hell and then you're indifferent to everything around you as you started to plan your immediate survival.

One of the plans even involve throwing Amber to the wolves and run to safety. Seriously brain?

While looking around for any large creatures of the night I saw that no one was panicking or even running away. In fact, I don't think anyone else heard that sound just now. Everything was just as peaceful as before. The pedestrians are walking on the streets, each minding their own business; some were sitting on benches and chatting animatedly or playing on their Scrolls.

My mind processed that information at an incredible rate and concluded that there might not actually be any danger at all and my body relaxes, the weird mind thingy shuts itself off and leaving my mind free to think whatever I want.

I look around one more time to be certain and sure enough, no Grimm. Thank god for that. I've never even seen one in real life before except when they're shown on the news or on picture books. I don't think I'm remotely ready to even survive against one let alone defeat it.

Am I starting to go loco? I don't recall eating any strange mushrooms today. I heard the growl loud and clear and it's very nearby if I were to guess. If I remember it correctly, the sound originated from right in front of...

My eyes narrowed as I realized where it came from and I slowly turn my attention back to the brown haired girl.

Amber was clutching her stomach, looking like she's about to cry as her eyes were watery and her lips were purse into a thin line and trembling.

"Amber," I call out in concern and a pair of watery brown eyes look at me. "Are you hungry?" I asked the obvious and Amber nodded as expected.

Now that I think about it, it's almost lunch time. I suppose it's safe to assume she won't be finding her mother anytime soon and I would need to feed her so that she doesn't go hungry.

 _'_ _Oh boy, what_ _do_ _I do_ _now?_ _'_ I wondered as I scratch my head while looking around, hoping to someone would give me a sign or clue on what I should do as I've never encountered this type of situation before. God, if you're out there, give me a sign.

Sadly, no one did. I believed in you God, why hath thou forsaken me in my time of need?

Anyway, the correct course of action is to feed her, that much I know and I'm not that heartless to let a little kid starve. But there's a problem you see.

I would happily give her something to eat from the cafe but I can't since I'd have to pay for it and the last of my savings have been used up to buy that throwing stick so yeah….need a new plan.

Seeing her teary and pouting face made my heart wrench in pain and I wanted nothing more than to feed her until she's too full to even move just like my grandma would always do when I visit her. Even then she would still force us to continue eating her lovely food and would bring in more when we thought we were about to finish.

Truly, I've never met an even more sadistic person than my granny.

Anyway, I'm seriously regret buying that Scroll right now.

*Sniffle*

I froze, my train of thought came into a crushing halt as the sound reached my ears. My head slowly turn back to the kid in standing in front of me and my attention focused solely on her.

Amber was rubbing her eyes as tears trail down her cheek; her shoulders were trembling slightly as she spoke with a cracked voice. "I want my mummy." she uttered between sobs.

Apparently she couldn't handle being lost anymore and finally decided to do the thing she should have done in the first place. But it would cause a lot of misunderstanding if she were to cry right now because I'm standing in front of her. People might think I'm the one who made her cry and I don't want that, nor do I want to see a child cry because I prefer to see them laughing happily.

There will be no crying children in my neighborhood, not when I'm around to stop it!

New plan, feed her regardless of my financial crisis and worry about the money later! I'm sure Boss would understand why the snacks in the cupboard are missing if I just explain the situation to her and support my decision wholeheartedly. After that, I'll search go for her mum once Boss and Summer returned so I can leave my post.

I took action immediately and quickly crouch in front of her. "Hey, hey, hey. Don't cry." I told her I soften my tone and do a calm down gesture with my hands. "I'll get you something to eat, then we'll go find your mummy okay? Do you want the cake that's on the display or a normal meal?" I asked her with a smile, trying my best to reassure her that it's fine.

Amber just shook her head with a sniffle.

"Okaaaay? Why not?" I asked, puzzled at her reply. Kids love food, they usually would gobble up everything you cook for them except for veggies. Why would Amber say no even though she's already hungry?

"I don't have any money." she pouted dejectedly as she stare at her feet.

"I never said you have to pay for them." I rolled my eyes with a small smile.

"But I'll still feel bad and mummy told me that it's bad to just take things without giving something in return." Amber mumbled as she look up at me with wide puppy dog eyes. I had to suppress a squeal because the kid just look outright adorable. Her innocent way of thinking is heartwarming for me because I lived in an age where kids are disrespectful as fuck and would do and take whatever they want without thinking of the consequences.

I place started rubbing my chin as I began plotting of a way for her to accept without causing much of a fuss. I tilt my head to the side as I let out a long and thoughtful hum while Amber was drying her tears with her frilled sleeves.

What should I do in this situation? She won't accept free stuff because of her upbringing and I can't let her starve… or can I? I suppose I could but I'm not that cruel.

While I could talk her into accepting but it would take too long. She looks like a stubborn type and I don't want to leave the shop unmanned for too long. It's a wonder no one entered while I was talking to her. I guess the fastest way is to trick her into thinking that she's not getting the food for free.

I snap my fingers as I thought of an idea that would benefit us both. The sound effectively gained her attention and she's now looking at me with slightly wet cheeks.

"Since it's like that, how about I give you work to do for the food instead?" I suggested.

"Work?" Amber echoed, brown eyes blinking.

I nodded, "Yes, since you wont accept things for free then I suppose you can help out in the cafe to pay for the food. Employees get free meal here so if I were to hire you then you don't have to worry about eating it without paying since you'll be paying back through your services in the cafe." I'm aware that I can't just randomly hire people off the street since I'm not the owner and Boss isn't around to hire her either. But Amber doesn't know that I'm not the owner and she's just a kid, they're always easily fooled.

Eh, what's telling an innocent white lie compared to starving an adorable kid.

Amber shifted her weight between her feet, fidgeting with a contemplating frown on her face as she think about my offer. She seem to be having a battle with her inner conscience, wandering whether or not it's alright to accept.

Seeing that it might take a while for the kid to decide and I just saw some random dude entered the shop, I knew that I can't afford to wait for her to make up her mind. I decided to used a method that would get any kids to agree to something almost instantly, one that I have been using since the birth of my little siblings to make them do their chores.

"Employees get free candies." I deadpanned.

"Yes." She immediately answered with stars shining in her eyes, her earlier desire to see her mother again temporarily forgotten.

Ah sweet, innocent youth. If only I retained that quality from my childhood...I'd probably be exploited more times than I could count back home. Eh, whatever; being morally handicapped is much more fun anyway.

 **-0-**

Here I sat silently; my ass firmly placed on one of the many stools in the back of the kitchen as I placed my elbow on the table and rest my chin on my palm, fingers drumming on my cheeks. My eyes were staring at the spectacle in front of me with amusement clearly written on my face along with a warm smile.

Sitting in front of me was Amber. Her eyes were closed as she made an expression of absolute bliss, almost like she was floating in heaven; all her worries were gone and nothing else mattered other than savoring this moment. Her mouth was chewing on the food that I have given her while her legs were kicking in the air energetically and her tiny hands gripping tightly onto the plastic cutlery I had given her; the ones we have for kids to use.

When she finally finished chewing she snap opened her eyes and I saw stars shining brightly in them; they were so bright that it made me wish I brought sunglasses with me.

She turn her attention back to the plate on the table immediately, almost as if she was afraid that her meal would disappear if she were to wait.

In front of her, was a half eaten steak -that's coated with mushroom sauce since she couldn't handle black pepper yet- and she eyed it like a predator. She bought down her fork towards it, stabbing it like she was using a dagger before trying to separate the portion of meat with her knife.

But sadly, even after using it for a while she's still having trouble with the knife. She would need to try multiple time to slice the meat as it just wouldn't cut through for some reason. She was using it like a saw and uses way too much strength when cutting. The sauce was flying everywhere when she was dragging the knife and staining the table and her blouse.

I can't tell whether she's using the knife wrongly or maybe it's because it's made out of plastic but either way, she now has orange coloured stain on her clothes and I know for a fact that her mother is going to be very upset when she sees it.

Yes, I gave her steak to eat out of all the other things I could have made for her. It's mainly because the other guy ordered it so I thought I might as well make hers while I'm at it since it's more convenient that way.

You know...I should at least scold her for making such a mess or at least help her...then again I get to see an adorable scene where she tries to get her plastic knife to work and it comes with annoyed pouting and cute glares she sent towards the steak.

Finally, after the fifth attempt to slice the meat off she did it. She raise the fork up into the air with the piece of meat still sticking onto it as if showing her triumph over the steak for the world to see. Her face was filled with pride and delight as she huffed proudly with one hand on her hips and her eyes closed. The area around her mouth had been stained with mushroom sauce, or rather, smudged with it as it had already spread to her cheeks.

I can tell that she's taking in the moment and letting it sink in before she devours her food with rigorous vigor.

…..

I took a picture of her moment without her noticing. It was just too cute. Looks like the throwing stick wasn't so useless after all.

Maybe I should teach her how to hold her cutlery tools properly but I don't wanna interrupt her when she looks so happy right now. Maybe I could do it later. Yeah, later is a good choice, for now I have work to do. The counter isn't going to man itself after all.

 **-0-**

"Did you enjoy the meal?" I asked the bubbly looking girl in front of me with a raised eyebrow.

Amber nodded excitedly with a bright smile, a greasy and still sauce smudged smile to be exact. "Yes!" she replied chirpily.

I turn my attention towards the table and saw her plate. I don't know how to describe it but it kinda looked like the aftermath of an animal being butchered there with all the sauce being scattered everywhere.

"I'm glad that you did..." I laughed wryly, thinking of the mess that I have to clean up because of her. Just how in God's saggy balls did the sauce even get to the ceiling? I shift my gaze back to Amber and saw tilting her head at me, looking confuse at my tone as she clap her hands together behind her back.

Good thing I've already put up the taking a break sign outside so I won't have to worry about customers coming in while I clean the mess up. Then I remembered that I have a handkerchief in my pocket that she could use to clean her face with.

Without further ado, I took it out and handed it over to her. Amber look at the yellow hankie in confusion, unsure of what to do with it as I handle it in front of her. She shift her sight from it to me and tilt her head in another direction. The innocent look on her face made it really hard not to just glomp and cuddle her right now. But I didn't, mainly because she' still covered in sauce and it's really hard to wash sauce out of my uniform.

I just rolled my eyes at her before leaning over to wipe her mouth myself. Amber, being the child that she is, resisted my attempts to clean her off and squirm around playfully with childish giggles as she tries to swat off my hand.

Of course, her resistance only cause me to plant my hand on her head to head it from moving too much and causing her to let out a ticklish squeal as I clean her off.

Anyway, it would seem that giving her food seem to gain me her trust or something because she's not staring at me suspiciously and not back away when I get near. Kinda reminds me of those stray dogs that I've always fed back home. I'm not sure of I should be comparing Amber with stray dogs but whatever; if she had a tail I'm sure it'll be wagging like mad right now.

Today I've learned that you can gain a kid's trust with food….I'm not sure what to do with that knowledge. I feel so dirty and ashamed for some reason.

"Just how in the world did you even get yourself so dirty with just one meal?" I couldn't help but ask out loud in wonder.

"It was delicious! I can't help it!" She defended herself with a pout.

Aww~ Ain't she just a cute little angle. I wanna pinch her cheeks so badly right now.

Once I'm satisfied that she no longer look like she had just slamed her face onto the steak -which I suspected that she did- I finally let go of her head and she move to fix her hair that I've messed up with an annoyed huff.

"Well, that's one problem solved but we still have to do something about your clothes. I imagine your mother wouldn't be happy when she sees you with brown splotches all over your blouse."

Amber let out a shocked gasp at my words and quickly snap her head down to see the state of her attire. She let out another gasp, this time filled with dread and panic as she tug on her blouse to get a better view of her blouse. I thought that it's quite a pointless action as you could see the stains just fine as it's quite literally everywhere, even on her back.

Just how in Satan's rainbow coloured underwear did it even get there? You know what? I'm not even going to bother trying to find out. It must be witchcraft I say. And thus, the mystery of the random stains that appeared everywhere has been chalked up into the category called 'shit only kids could do when you weren't looking'. It's less of a headache if you think of it that way.

Amber finally got over her shock and let the cloth she was pulling on drop. She look up at me with panic spreading rapidly throughout her face, her big round eyes seem to be pleading for help as she seem to be at a lost of what to do in this situation.

I let out an amused smirk at her, a brief sense of nostalgia hit me as I was reminded of the times I had too look after my younger siblings that would make a mess just like Amber did.

The amount of chaos those brats could cause is beyond normal. One moment I had to pull one of them out of the toilet bowl because he fell in while shitting, then I had to stop another from mimicking superman and jumping off the table with a tablecloth as a cape; after that I had to comfort a crying one because his penis was hurting when the toilet lid slammed onto it like the jaws of a crocodile.

Heh, kids. It's a wonder I haven't gone insane yet; or maybe I have but didn't know it. The weird things going on in my head could be a sign but meh, as long as I don't start wearing pink out of the blue I can still consider myself sane and everything is A-Okay.

Amber seem to have interpreted my smile as something else because she got angry, why wouldn't she be when someone was apparently smiling at her misery.

"It's not funny!" she whined pitifully as she throws her hands up in the air "mummy's going to be so mad at me when she sees me like this." The fear was in her voice was almost palpable as she started to panic, looking like she's going to start running around screaming at the top of her lungs until a solution presents itself. Amber continued to talk about what her mother would do if she caught her with her dirty outfit and how her fate would be if she didn't find a way to clean it up as she pace around the place and ruffled her hair in trance. But I've stopped listening around the part where she said there wouldn't be any snacks anymore.

Looks like a distraction is in order since I don't want her to run around like a headless chicken; thankfully I have just the thing to stop her.

Before she could freaking out even more over what her mother would do to her, I took out something from my pocket. "Here's the candy I promised." I dangled the piece of sweet in front of me.

Amber clamp her mouth shut and swivel her head towards my direction. Her attention was entirely focused on the sweet with the eyes of a hawk and she appears to be almost drooling. At least she's no longer going on about how her mother was going to ground her for a week.

"Yay! Candy!" she cheered and had practically leaped over from her spot to grab the candy from my hand like an eager puppy. Amber shot forward like a missile, her arms shot out ready to catch her prize; her eyes were wide and sparkling along with a look of anticipation plastered onto her face.

But before she could grab it, I lifted the sweet away and she shot through empty space. I winched when I saw her crash into the stacks of conveniently placed cardboards that softened impact. Worried that the crash might actually hurt Amber, I quickly made my way over to check if she's still conscious only to see her sprung up like a spring, completely unharmed and well, as she turned around to pout angrily at me. I silently thank the earlier version of me for placing those cardboards there for recycling.

"Why Amber," I called out to her, sounding scandalized as I regarded her with a disappointed look. My gaze seem to have some sort of effect on her because she dropped her angry-slash-adorable pout and flinched. "You don't just take things from people's hand like that. That's very rude and ill-mannered. You should wait until they hand it out for you to take, not just grab them from their hands the moment you see it." I continued as I wave a finger at her in a chiding manner, tsking as I did so.

Amber look down at her feet somberly, her tiny hands grab onto the helm of her skirt as she shuffle uncomfortably as I scold her; a look of guilt flashes across her face as her lips pursed into a thin line.

I bit back a grimaced as she did so. She looked like a kicked puppy and it felt worst knowing that I'm the one that made her that way. I never really like scolding children, it's just not in my nature to do so but someone's gotta do it when they did something they shouldn't. I know that it's necessary sometimes but scolding them only makes them more guarded or careful when they're around you; afraid that they would do something wrong in your presence and get reprimand because of it. It takes away the fun of being with them.

Oh well, might as well get it over with.

I fixed her a stern glace and was surprised at how unnatural and uncomfortable it felt on my face. "And what do you say when you've done something wrong?"

"Sorry." Amber mumbled, looking at the very interesting patch of dust on the ground as she shuffled her feet in a circle.

"Good." l said with a gentler tone and nodded in approval and walk closer towards her. At least she's listening. My stern expression softens into a small, whimsical smile. "Now lift up yous hands." I continued.

Amber hesitantly did so, slowly lifting both her hands together, palms up and sending quick glances my way with mild curiosity but I can still see the wariness in them.

I suppressed a dejected sigh at the sight and lean down towards her. Once I'm close enough I clamped both my hands around hers, one hand closed into a fist placed right on top of her palm and the other clasp underneath it. Amber jumped, startled at the sudden contact and snap her head up to face me. Confusion was clearly etched onto her face as she look at her hands that was being covered by mine and then towards me; her head snaps up and down repeatedly until she eventually settled with watching me with an inquiring look.

Then realisation struck her as she understood that the candy was in my fist and she started skipping excitedly with pursed lips, eyes shining brightly again with childish glee.

I smirked, opening my fist with deliberate slowness just to watch Amber stare at my hand with nervousness and anticipation. Apparently I took too long and she was now skipping impatiently on her spot to the point where she's nearly hyperventilating while sending pouts and glares my way.

I'm a sadistic bastard, I know.

Without further stalling, I opened my fist and to Amber's surprise and delight, instead of the one piece of candy that she was expecting she received a fist full of them that came out of nowhere. She started squealing happily as she clutch the sweets close to her chest, apparently already forgotten about her dilemma regarding her clothes.

"Yay~! You're my best friend now." she happily declares as she pop some sweets into her mouth.

Okay, new knowledge. Instantly befriend a kid when you give them candy. Again, I feel so dirty and ashamed for no reason.

"Where did you get them!? I thought you only had one on you." Amber asked while moving the sweet inside her mouth from one cheek to the other.

"Magic." I replied smugly, puffing my chest out in pride as she stared at me in awe. But in reality, the true answer is really, really deep pockets. I'm deadly serious. The pockets in Remnant are like connected to another dimensional space or something because I could stick an entire arm inside the pockets on my pants without them bulging. Hell, you could stick your entire arsenal of weapons inside and bring them everywhere with you and everyone would be none the wiser. It's almost like magic, kinda like Weiss and Ren's sleeves. Oh, so that's why they could store their weapons in there.

While I was busy contemplating the mystery of the dimensional pockets Amber spoke up once more. "You sounded a lot like my grandpa when he saw me doing something wrong." she observed.

"Oi! I'm not old! I'm only fifteen! (in this body anyway)" I shouted out in horror, feeling every bit scandalized as I sounded and causing her to erupt into a fit of giggles. I did my best to glare at her but sadly, my angry face needs a lot of work because she tried to suppress a snicker at the sight of my expression.

"Let's...let's just go find you something to wear so I can clean you clothes." I said with a dejected sigh, wishing to change the subject as I walk towards the stairs leading towards the second floor; Amber followed closely behind as continued to giggle at me.

"Okay grandpa." she replied cheekily with a grin.

"I'm not that old!" I groan out in despair. "Ye better keep yer trap shut be'for I jab yer with mah walking stick." I told her, mimicking an old man's voice and slouching my back while pretending to wave an invisible walking stick in the air at her in mock anger. Amber burst out laughing, unable to restrain her amusement any longer. The cafe empty cafe was filled with Amber's sweet, joyful laughter as we made our way up the stairs while I complained about back pains and what it was like back in my day and how the teenagers in this generation were spoiled, causing Amber to laugh even more.

 **-0-**

"It would need to be hand washed." I explained as I search the storeroom for a box that I had found in my room while I was doing some spring cleaning months ago. Amber just stood by my side as she watches what I was doing in curiosity. If I remembered correctly, I saw some kids clothes in there. Not sure whose it was but no matter, since it's stored away then I suppose no one needs it anymore.

I showed it to Boss when I found it and she looked kinda sad when she saw it, staring at the box with faint hint of remorse and grief. I would have asked what's wrong but seeing how sad she looked and how hard she was trying to hide it made me change my mind. She told me to put it in the storeroom that day so here I am, searching through the stuffs inside just to find that box again.

"But why?" Amber asked with a tilt of her head, her bangs sliding towards the side her head was leading at.

"Weeeeelllll," I stretch out the word as I carefully rearrange the contents of the storeroom so it doesn't fall on top of me when I accidentally moved something I shouldn't, just like the Jenga blocks I used to play when I was a kid. Holy crap there sure is a lot of stuff in here.

"It's mainly because I don't think our washing machine would wash away the stains properly since ours is very cheep, so is our detergent. We're better off washing it off by hand unless you want the stains to spread instead of being clean off."

Amber just made an 'oh' face with her lips spread into an O before she went back to watching me rummage though the storeroom while popping another piece of candy into her mouth.

I turn my head to face her with an unamused look. "Amber, stop eating so many sweets. I know that I gave you a lot but you don't have to wolf them down in one day." I chided, only causing her to pout at me as she hold her sweets closer to her chest as if guarding them.

"It's not good for your teeth." I continued but a thought entered my brain and a mischievous smirk graced my face as I regarded her. Amber actually took a step back when I look at her with an oh so innocently smile. "But who am I to stop you from enjoying yourself. The worst that could happen from eating too many sweets is either a tummy ache," I told her as I rubbed my belly for her to see and she looked rather uncomfortable as she goes to pat her stomach to check for any incoming aches. "Or," my smile turned devious as my eyes sparkled playfully. "A trip to the Dentist!"

"Noooooo!" Amber cried out in absolute terror; her hands shot up to cover her ears to stop herself from listening to me, causing the sweets dropped onto the ground. She just keeps on stretching out the one syllable word for approximately a full minute or something (I lost track of the time) and I've learned that she can really go on without taking a breath in bet- oh wait never mind, she just took a breath….and then she continued screaming out like a person that had just been denied the very thing she was craving for all her life.

Once she's done screaming out the syllable like Darth Vader from Star Wars she look down at the sweets in on the ground, a very panicked look appeared on her face as she seem to be struggling to decide what to do with the sweets.

Ha, payback for calling me old brat.

Oh crap, she looks like she's about to cry.

"Don't worry about it so much. It should be fine if you brush your teeth regularly." I tried to placate her panicky.

"Really!?" She snap her head up to face me, a look of hope etched onto her face.

"Yes, now calm down before you pee yourself in excitement." I gave her a roll of my eyes before I turn back to the storeroom. God knows that it happened before with my siblings. I saw Amber picking up the candies out of the corner of my eyes but she's stuffing them in her pockets instead of eating them so I guess that's a good thing. I briefly wondered if her pocket is an endless wormhole like mine but shook the thought away and went back to searching.

"Ah ha!" I exclaimed as I took out the box I was looking for, gaining curious looks from the little girl next to me.

I quickly set the box down on the ground and opened it...normally this time. What greeted me was a stock of old clothing, sizes fit for children. I think I can guess where they came from seeing that Boss used to have a son. I have no idea what happened to him but all evidence points to the fact that he died at some point in the past. Bringing it up or even mentioning her son always sours Boss' mood so I tend not to do that.

But should I really use the belonging from the deceased so casually without permission from the Boss? I mean, they belonged to her dead son for Christ's sake... Eh, if I could loot the corpses of the dead and wear their stuff without batting an eye in video games I can do it here too; granted that the difference between the two realities are vastly different but meh, I'm not the one wearing it anyway. Side's Amber doesn't need to know that it belonged to a dead guy and I'm the ask for forgiveness kind of person instead of permission.

I started ruffling through the clothes to find one that would fit Amber. I found one that would match her size but the look is… Oh this is going to be great! I took it out with a wide grin on my face as I showed what she's going to wear for her to see.

Amber raise an eyebrow at the sight. "Am I really going to wear that?"

"Oh course you are, just think of it as your work uniform. Now quickly get change so I can wash your blouse." I handed the outfit over and Amber carried it in her arms with a reluctant look. Then I started guiding her towards the bathroom so she can change.

"But it looks so..." she trailed off, unable to find a word to describe what she's holding as she walk by my side.

"Oh I know. It'll be brilliant." I nodded in agreement even though she didn't finish her sentence, snicking to myself and thinking of all the pictures that I could take later. After that my mind was already thinking about what to do later and how to explain to Boss and Summer why there's a kid in the cafe without sounding like a pedophile. But even though I knew that I should be planning on how to reunite Amber with her mother but a certain… mischievous side of my brain thought up of something that I just can't ignore. But I shall shelved it away for later because for now, dealing with the problem at hand.

"So what does your mum look like?" I asked Amber and she place a finger on her chin as she let out a thoughtful hum with her eyes closed.

"My mummy's really pretty, has the same hair and skin colour like mine, really tall, her hair is-" And I've stopped listening at that point because man, the kid can keep on going without stop.

"Yeah, I have no idea how to envision her so I'll have to bring you along when we go out searching." I interrupted her as she was describing what her mother was wearing in complete detail. It'd probably be more easier this way as she would know who to look for.

"Okay then." she nodded enthusiastically, delighted at the prospect of searching for her mother.

Without anything else to talk about the idea that I had shelved away came back into my mind. I went over it multiple times, trying to find out the pro and cons and calculating whether or not it would be worth it to pull it off. Seeing that there's nothing to lose if it was executed except for some...payback from an agitated coworker, the plan was given the green light.

"Hey Amber,." I called out to get her attention and she turn her head to face me. "Wanna pull a prank?" I asked with a grin.

A playful smile appeared on her seemingly innocent face.

Apparently this little angle has a mischievous side.

 **-0-**

 **AN: I've heard that you all enjoy light and heart warming scenes. I hope that you enjoyed this one then and prepare for more to come as shit doesn't hit the fan until Summer goes to Beacon. I still have to introduce the rest of the cast too so expect the rest of the story to remain light and fluffy until...oh well, we'll never know what's going to happen in the future now will we?**

 **If this chapter seem kinda rushed that's probably because it is kinda rushed. I just wanted to get it out before the next Volume of RWBY comes out. It actually goes on a bit longer but I decided to cut it off.**

 **On a relating note, any new info revealed by Volume 4 will not be implemented unless it could fit in the story. This fic is AU by the way just in case no one really notices.**

 **Thanks for reading and do review. More reviews means more motivation for writing. I have posted quite a few new stories but no one ever reads them and it really dampens my motivation for writing for the past month or two and ended up playing games instead. I've written one for Kanaberi Of the Iron Fortress and Pokemon but no one ever reads them so I'll be putting them in the low priority list.**

 **On a side note, I've got a job whose work hour is 60 hours a week. So expect updates to be very slow or just a bit faster but no longer over 10k in length. Choose either one for I can't decide myself.**

 **Do check my profile once in a while because I'll be updating it when I have the time to show which fic that I'm working on and their progress.**

 **That is all, please have a good day. Ta ta.**


	3. Summer, Meet Amber

**Me: Oh My God, it's been months already and I haven't uploaded a new chapter but I just can't find the motivation to keep writing beyond a few sentences each day. What should I do? What should I do!?**

 **Inner me: Play video games.**

 **Me: Neat idea!**

 **Yeah. That's a fairly accurate depiction on why this chapter took so long to get out.**

 **Anyway, just thought that I should inform you all that other people's POV will be in third person while Alex's is in first's just to prevent any confusion.**

 **Enjoy the story. I must admit, it seems that my writing skills are getting rusty for some reason.**

 **-0-**

 **-0- = line break**

 **(0) = Pov change**

 **-0-**

 **Chapter 3: Summer, Meet Amber.**

 **-0-**

"Well then, looks like we've got everything that we've came here for." May Oliver announced cheerily as she stretch her arms above her head and arch her back backwards. She could feel her joints crack with a small satisfying plop as she walked out of the automated glass doors of the supermarket. The warm air immediately assaulted her face once she left the confines of the air conditioned building and she let her arms down with a delighted sigh.

"I think we may have bought more than we were suppose to." Commented her redhead companion that accompanied her along for the trip. May look over her shoulder and saw Summer walking out of the same door she had just walked through, glancing worriedly over at their other companion/pack mule behind her.

Instead of the teenage male who would wear shades, regardless of time and place that she had expected to see, all she saw was a mountain of groceries that seem to have sprouted legs and was walking on their own. Then again, Junior being hidden behind mountain of bags has been a sight so frequent for her that she couldn't imagine seeing him without it. It's a good thing he 'volunteered' to help because she couldn't imagine carrying all that home all by her lonesome.

Junior let out a strained grunt but is clearly holding on better than he used to after he grown used to the weight. He's clearly complaining less about his treatment nowadays too after his attempt to rebel against her. Of course that ended rather spectacularly as one would expect as his face suddenly found itself embedded into a wall so deep that only his arse was sticking out.

Such a gentleman Junior is.

Completely unlike a certain other teenage boy that she knew. But she knew better than to take him along when they have a lot to carry. It's mainly because he's pitifully weak. He would most likely buckle under the weight of all those groceries and then be buried under it. Seriously. Summer's stronger than him by a large margin and she's a girl. But to be fair, Summer had been training to be a huntress for years now so she can''t really compare her strength to his. It would be an unfair comparison, really.

Like pitting the main cannon of an Atlas's air-fleet against a potato gun.

A limp, flimsy potato gun that can't even shoot straight.

"Oh, don't be silly Summer. There's no such thing as buying too much. We simply overestimated our pack mule's weight capacity." May wave off her concern easily without even taking a glance at Junior's direction and started walking away form the supermarket.

"The mountain of bags seem to be increasing more and more each time we call him over though." Summer pointed out, eyes looking upwards towards said stack of groceries as she followed her along with Junior.

"Nonsense. You're just imagining things." May huffed indignantly as one of the many bags dropped from the top of the stack. Junior, being someone has experienced something like this more times than he could count, quickly stick out his leg and caught the bag in midair by precisely sticking out his leg underneath the falling bag. Now he's just balancing himself like a man on a tightrope, praying that he doesn't fall over and increasing the amount of money he owe to the scary lady.

Thankfully, Summer came to his rescue by taking the bag away so he could finally put his foot down again.

Sadly, she tossed it back up onto the mountain instead of carrying it herself to lighten Junior's load. Summer didn't even look remotely guilty for doing that and she quickly walk away to May's side. May hazarded a guess that Summer still held a grudge about that time when Junior ate the last cookie that she was saving.

It's alright to tease her or pull pranks on her but when you take her last cookie then you better be prepared to face one hell of a storm in the form of a petty, grudge holding redhead.

"Well then, let's head on home shall we? No point in wasting any more time here than we should. I dread to think what would happen if we were to leave the boy alone in the store for too long again." May involuntarily let out a shiver as memories of last time popped into her head. Oh, the chaos, the horror. Just how did he managed to flood the entire cafe with chickens is a mystery that everyone is still trying to figure out. All those feathers, all those chicken poo, scattered everywhere like those weird paintings in the art museum.

Random teleporting chicken he says. Yeah right.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he's already fallen asleep without us there to keep him awake." May could hear Summer's tired sigh, already given up hope that her co-worker would actually be useful for once without having someone to keep him in line. He's a hardworking lad as long as you keep him in your sights but as soon as he's no longer in your field of vision then BAM! He'd go using that weird skill that he has to fall asleep on the job. Either that or he'd just cook up something weird just to tease our adorable redhead. She swears that he put in more effort in being lazy that actually getting his job done.

As May walked with her companions in tow, she idly noted that the sidewalk was bustling with life. Not surprising as today was Saturday. Plenty of people were roaming around the streets, each going about their day, following some sort of routine that was ingrained into them to keep some sense of normalcy they have in their lives.

Speaking of normalcy, hers has been utterly shattered the moment a raven haired teen applied for a job at her cafe. It certainly didn't help that he looked a lot like her deceased son, only plenty of years younger and with different hair and eye colour and let's not forget to mention his personality too. Thankfully, she adapted just as fast.

At first she had wondered if the enemies that she had made over the years found him and decided to place him here just to get under her skin by reminding her of her son every time she looked at him. Even though she had long cut off any involvement with 'that side' and is well in retirement for years now, that didn't stop a few grudge holding idiots to try getting revenge in any way possible.

She had hired him alright, despite not knowing his motive. But it's mostly to keep him close by so she could keep an eye on him just in case he tried to anything.

And of course, her vigilance were not rewarded as the boy did nothing of sorts that would bring harm to her or the people around her other than headaches due to his ignorance with how the world works and his lack of common sense. It's almost like he's not from this world...that or he just lived under a rock until now; which is more believable given his unwillingness to venture outside unless forced. Not to mention his dislike of people intruding his personal space as she often saw him shirk away subtly from other people whenever they got too close to him.

But he's perfectly fine when Summer's the one that got close to him though. Then again, Summer had mostly just ran up to him just to swat him in the shoulder or head for the things he did to her so he really didn't have the chance to move away.

Either way, no longer was she constantly alert for any form of threat the boy may pose but she's still keeping an eye on him because he could be biding his time.

Life is undoubtedly more interesting nowadays, doubly so whenever Summer's around. It's mostly chaotic at times but thankfully, May had found some sort of routine to cling on her fleeting normalcy. The weekdays were calm, like the ocean under the clear sky. Customers who enjoyed peace and quiet would come here during those days to sit and relax in her cafe.

Weekends however, was busier as people who were too busy or lazy to cook for themselves would find themselves here. It helps that Summer would be around to help out but May thinks that most of the customers came here just to watch her two employees interact with each other. And when evening rolls around the corner, the concept of civilized dining was suplex out the window by a man wearing green spandex, shouting obscure things about youth and her cafe was transformed into a rowdy tavern in a blink of an eye.

People got drunk. You can just about guess what would happen when a crowd of drunken people gathered in a small around would normally go, especially when some of them have short tempers.

Either they would drink each other under the table or a fight ensues.

It was mostly the latter though.

And she was left wondering when did they ever stock up on alcohol beverages. Last she recalled, her cafe never even serve them in the first place. She blamed the boy. Somehow, one way or another, it's always his fault for all the strange things going on.

She had long given up in keeping the peace whenever a fight broke out and let them do what they want. She wasn't mad even with all the broken furniture, dishes and windows all around since the patrons pay for the damages they had caused by the end of the night. What they didn't know is that she has a way to buy them all with a hefty discount and they had payed for the original price.

That's why they put out all the expensive decorations during the evening and hide them during the day.

It nets her more lien this way.

She also haven't forgotten the one time where he managed to start a drinking contest without her knowing as she was too busy in the kitchen to realize the strange order regarding large quantities of beers in barrels. How on Remnant did she even missed those she would never know.

She only realised that something was going on outside when she heard a group of people chanting 'Chug! Chug! Chug!'. She could easily guess what's happening outside as she had heard that particular chant way too many times during her youth and a budding headache was already making itself known at the back of her head. She went to investigate and voila! There he was, standing with one foot on top of the table as he chug down the contents of the mug in his hand without even spilling a single drop. His opponent in front of him was clearly struggling to stay upright as his bloodshot eyes bulged of his socket, looking ready to faint.

In the end, the man twice his size fell, eyes rolled upwards until only the white of his eyes could only be seen as the remaining drink in his mouth came pouring out like a stream.

Seeing all the other fallen bodies all around told her that her employee, barely of legal age, had effectively drank everyone under the table like a champ and is still going for another round with the next guy. Despite feeling peeved at seeing a few of the fallen challengers staining the ground with questionable liquid coming from either their mouth or their crotch, she's gotta admit that the kid can hold his alcohol.

She had also discovered that Summer had tried drinking upon being urged by almost everyone. It was that day did she found out that Summer only needed to take a sip before she gets drunk. She's a rather happy drunk. A happy drunk with ridiculously low alcohol tolerance because the second sip knocked her out and she went into her la la land while sleeping in the corner, smiling as she muttered happily in her sleep while snuggling comfortably against a pot of cactus. It's a good thing Summer had aura, otherwise she wouldn't looked so comfortable.

The boy on the other hand….

Well, he can't stop giggling like a four year old girl on acid.

And when the last his challengers (meaning everyone in the cafe) fell before him in a heap of tangled limbs, stacking themselves up mountain and drizzling water into the air like a literal man made fountain as their bladders finally given up, she decided to join in on the fun instead of being a responsible adult and scold him for what he had done. Maturity was overrated anyway.

So she sat in front of the boy and challenged him to a round. It's a bit unfair as she's didn't even have a bit of alcohol in her systems and the boy looked just about ready to pass out.

Needless to say, she shamelessly took advantage of his drunken state for some Q and A but only got more questions than answers. It went on until he suddenly changed when she asked a particular question, as if everything about him just shifted.

'What do you planning on doing in the future?' She recalled asking.

The smile and cheer that he wore during the duration of his drinking match was gone without a trace and all that's left was a blank face with a faint reddish hue on his cheeks, mostly from all the alcohol he had consumed. He just sat there, face flushed and staring at his empty mug in his hand, looking like he's contemplating about the questions about the universe.

He seem to be completely out of it and unaware of his surroundings because she kept snapping her fingers in front of his face, trying to get his attention. The sound of her fingers clicking together could easily be heard amidst the snores and burbling of piss that one or all of the customers are going to clean when they woke up

Her eyes drifted over his form. He was like a sad drunk, weeping away at the table and complaining about the unfairness of life. It reminded her of herself one upon a time when she was unsure what kind of path lies ahead of her. It made her want to reassure him that everything will be fine even though she had no idea what's going on inside his head.

And when she give small pat on his shoulder to show some form of support, it instead send him falling towards the opposite direction and slamming his face onto the floor. Then she found out he was just sleeping with his eyes opened.

She really should have saw that coming.

Oh lets not forget to mentioned that Junior has to pay for it all the beer because he lost the drinking contest even though he didn't participated at all. His father would not bail him out of that one, regardless of what Junior had claimed.

Both her employees had to take a day off the next day because of the massive hangover they're feeling.

She had to drive Summer home that evening because she wasn't sure if she could make it back herself in her state. Thankfully, she didn't have to deal with Summer's parents because they're out of town that week. She couldn't imagine explaining to them just why their daughter looked so smashed and was suffering a massive headache….or why she was clutching on to a pot of cactus with no intention of letting go...or why there a small chunk of the plant was missing with clear teeth mark on it.

She never knew what happened to that cactus.

Oh well, at least it will serve as a memento for Summer to remind her of her first attempt at drinking.

May blinked when she saw the bank that she usually goes to make her transactions and with a jolt, she was knocked out of her reminiscing as she realised that she was so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed that she was already half way back home.

Hmm, now that she's already here, she might as well withdraw some cash. She recalled the boy had already used up the last of his money when he purchase his scroll so some advance pay for this month wouldn't hurt. He'd earned it after all, despite all the headaches he had given her.

She'd have to sent Summer ahead first though. They had been gone longer than she had expected and Summer would have to supervise the boy in her place. It wouldn't do if she left him alone for too long after all. Who knows what kind of trouble he would come up with when they're gone.

Still, even with all the strange things he could be doing while they were gone, it's not like he would trick a child into working for him while he slacks off in the back now would he?

 **(0)**

"Alright Amber, are you ready yet?" I shouted upstairs to the little girl that I have basically manipulated into thinking that she would be paying off a non-existent debt if she were to help me. What can I say, the kid's persistent in paying me back and I'm not going to refuse free help when I can. Side's, I can't wait to see how she would look in that costume of hers.

"Not yet!" I heard her shout back, a soft thump and a high pitched 'Eep' coming from upstairs told me that she may have fell on her bum while trying to get it on.

I felt a sense of disappointment for being denied the cuteness I was looking forward to but oh well, what can I do. She'll come down eventually and when she does I'm so going to take a picture of her while grinning like an idiot. My eyes glace towards the clock on the wall and I saw what time it was. Oh snap, it's been that long already? I need to get back to work pronto. "Well when you're done just come down to the counter and I'll tell you what you should be doing okay?"

"Kay." Amber shouted back in acknowledgment and I nodded, not that she could see it, and quickly make my way back outside just so I could remove the 'on break' sign.

Once that's done, I put myself behind the counter and waited for the customers, like always. It's always the waiting, waiting for time to pass, waiting for the customers to come and go and waiting for the inevitable trouble that should have come a long time ago since my arrival here.

It's just so weird that nothing had happened yet. After all, aren't all Self-inserts by definition a deus ex machina? Then again, maybe Fate is laying in wait for me to let my guard down just so it could surprise me with a kick in the balls.

While I'm waiting for fate to sneak up behind me like a ninja, I could always use the time to think of a perfectly reasonable excuse that I could tell the ladies just why I didn't just call the cops that there's a lost child here that they could come pick up….

Shit, why didn't I think of that in the first place?

The logical part of my mind dictates that I should call them right now so they would pick Amber off my hands that way I could avoid all the fuss when Boss and Summer came back. But the mischievous part told me that I still haven't take any pictures of Amber in her costume yet! I still want to take shots of her as she serves customers too. Then there's the small, harmless prank that I have in store for Summer.

I could call the cops later but I don't know when the ladies will be back. Glancing at the clock tells me that they have been out for a while now and could be back pretty soon. So I'm not sure if I have the time to paw Amber off to the authorities before they came back if I wait any longer.

Well, I could lie that I've only found her recently just before they returned but I'm not sure if Amber would follow that lie. She might be too self righteous to lie. That or she might let slip that she had actually been here longer than I had claim and I'd be in more trouble than before.

Argh, this is so agonizing to think about. On one hand, instant problem solving when I call the cops but on the other, cute pictures of Amber and Summer's varied and amusing expressions when she sees Amber.

In the end the logical part of my brain was told to stuff it by the mischievous part and it declares that we are going to commence operation 'Wing it' until the foreseeable future and the priority was set to 'don't get thrown in jail'.

Damn my weakness to cute things!

"I'm ready!" Amber suddenly chirped beside me and I jerk back in surprise. Damn, the kid's like a ninja. I mean, the soles of her new shoes comes with those squeaking things that you'd often see toddlers wear and I didn't even hear her come down from the stairs. Then again, I was busy trying to come up with ideas regarding how to avoid being accused as a pedophile. Sadly, none had came up as of yet.

I snap my head towards Amber and saw that her costume fit almost perfectly, almost because it's a bit saggy, and a grin made it's way towards my face. "Oh my gosh!" I squeal in a manly way, (A Manly way I say! And you're a filthy liar if you think otherwise!) and dart forth to pick her up.

Amber let out a yelp as she was lifted off the ground and had her cheeks pressed against mine as I cuddle her like a possessed madman. "You're just the cutest thing ever!" I exclaimed, completely losing myself to the mushiness of her cheeks as I continue to snuggle my face against hers.

"Eep! Big bro, et' go! It tickles!" Amber cried out in fits of giggles, squirming to get out of my grips.

I let out a gasp as I realised something that I should be doing right now instead of snuggling the bundle of adorableness in my hands. I promptly let go without thinking and Amber let out another yelp of surprise as she fell to the ground. Thankfully, she landed on her feet like a cat and wasn't harmed in any way and a squeaking sound came from her shoes as intended.

"Okay, hold still. I'magonnatakeapicturerightnow!" the words was blurt out rapidly as my scroll was whipped out faster than a flasher could flash himself to a minor.

My scroll made a soft click with a *ahem* flash as it did it's duty. Amber's eyes were squint shut by reflex when her eyes were assaulted by the bright light and ruining the picture.

Or would have, had it not made her look all the more cuter.

I'm so glad that I bought this thing. Who would have thought I'd still have enough money to buy it after using half of my salaries to pay for Summer's debt.

I still kinda feel slightly guilt that I basically forced her into a part time job and used up all her weekends like this but at least I'm trying to fix it. Also, it's to get rid of her before I get dragged into some of the bullshit that every main characters get themselves into. It would be only a matter of time before something happened with Summer in the center and I unwillingly get dragged into the fray.

Now that I think about it, the only reason why I could even afford the damn thing was because the clerk at the store gave me a 70% off. I would have been suspicious, had it not happen more than once to me when I'm off shopping. But the only times things can be bought cheep was when Junior's around though so that means I won't get any discount if I go alone.

Well, I'm not going to look at a gift horse in the mouth so I won't question why Mr. Wear shades indoors get special treatment. Instead, I sought to abuse that privilege of his and always have Junior around when I'm off shopping, much to his annoyance and much relief to my already crying wallet.

Junior must be a very special guy since the clerk was in tears, like he had just met a being higher than his pitiful existence when Junior approached him. I remember back then I was completely flabbergasted when I saw the original price for the scroll and doing my best to bargain the price down as Junior waited outside. Apparently I took too long and he came in to check and that lead to the discount. Still, hope the Clerk is doing okay. He was spluttering a string of unintelligible words and may or may not let loose his bowels when he saw Junior.

"Muuu~" Amber pouted angrily as she rubbed her eyes, trying to recover from her blurry vision due to the camera flash. She let her hands down, blinking rapidly before turning to me with a death glare, an adorable death glare. "No pictures! My mummy already take enough at home." she exclaimed, crossing her arms in front of her in an 'X' as narrowed her eyes at me, cheeks puffed up as she attempt to be intimidating. She kinda reminds me of Summer whenever I got her mad. It just makes me want to tease her more.

"Took." I corrected her, looking smug as I wave a finger in the air pointedly while my other hand stuffed my scroll with the newly acquired picture into my pocket. Now I have something that can be used to tease Amber when she grew up...assuming that I'm still around by then. "And you were too late. I already took your picture anyway." I informed her with a grin, waggling my eyebrow cheekily like a bastard that I am.

Anyway, let's stop thinking about the future and focus on the present.

I clap my hands together to get the girl's attention as I kept my eyes on her. "Well then. Now that you're ready to get to work, I suppose I should tell you what your duty is." Amber's eyes widen slightly and started nodding enthusiastically, feeling eager to help out and pay back her non-existing debt to me as she smiled. "Okay, here's what I need you to do." I started, arms gesturing at the tables in front of us. "See those tables over there?" Amber's eyes followed, taking in the sight and nodded.

"Your job is essentially just cleaning and delivering." Pretty simple and easy, perfectly safe and suited for a child that seem to have ADHD (Not confirmed) or is a chipmunk on sugar rush in human form. Amber turn back to face me, confusion apparent on her face as she tilt her head. I rolled my eyes at her and tried explaining again, this time with more details. "When you see a table with plates and cups but no people sitting by it, I need you to put those plates and cups on this tray here. Can you do that?" I asked her nicely, waving the tray around that previously wasn't in my hand.

Amber nodded in confirmation, eyes completely focused as she regarded me and I place the tray on top of the counter. "After that all you need to do is to take those dirty dishes and place them in the sink in the back." I gave a jerk of my head towards the kitchen. "I'll clean them when I have the time or you can help too when there's nothing left for you to do."

Again, Amber nodded silently and I took it as a sign that I could continue on.

"The other thing you need to do is to deliver food to the customers. Just come over to that section over there to collect it and I'll tell you where it needs to go." I gesture at the pickup area which is essentially just a wall that was cut out so it would connect with the kitchen with a wooden counter there to place the food. "Don't worry, I won't give you anything heavy or easily spilled over unless you're ready for it so don't fret." I assured her as I turn to face the front door, keeping a look out for any approaching customers...but mostly for Boss and Summer. I was praising myself mentally that I had actually thought that far ahead for once. Normally I would just give her whatever without thought and realised my mistake when it's too late and watch as everything falls to the ground in an unceremonious heap when she tries to deliver them.

Huh, it must be my big brother instincts kicking up again if I'm actually starting to worry about something like that. I haven't used them in a while now since my siblings are all grown up and didn't need me to be the mother hen anymore. That or I just don't want to clean the floor when she actually spills everything...and paying for the dishes. I'm dead broke already.

Here's to hoping that I don't forget about that tidbit afterwards.

I noticed Amber nodded again out of the corner of my eye after I informed her of her duties as I kept looking out the door, silently hoping that my luck will hold up and I could actually resolve the entire issue with Amber being lost without much of a fuss.

Yes, I'm actively jinxing myself in hopes that it would just come true already and won't catch me by surprise. So far there has been no luck in that department and it's really making me anxious. Who knows just what will happen in the future if my good luck keeps building up. I suspect that good fortune would all come crushing down in a big tidal wave of fuck you when I least expected it. Hopefully I wouldn't be squatting on the toilet seat then because if so, then I'd literally be caught with my pants down.

"Well, then. With all that said, I guess it's time to start working. All we have to do now is to wait for any customers to come in so you can do whatever you want until I call for you."

Amber nodded once more, not complaining about having to work already like I usually would.

Wow, Amber such an understanding little girl. I've been telling her what she has to do and not once did she interrupted me, looked worried or even complained. I felt rather impressed with her maturity. If it were me and someone was explaining something of great importance to me, I'd be zoning out and barely giving the person that's talking to me any attention at all. Still, despite having known the girl for an hour at most, I know enough that it's just not like her to be this quiet. A bit too quie- Wait a freaking minute.

Suspecting that something was wrong, I slowly turn around to see just what my newly acquired assistant was doing. As expected, she was silently nomming on a lollipop that I gave her, nodding to herself in heavenly bliss when the sweet flavors assaulted her taste buds and not to mention completely ignoring me while she's at it.

Oh. So this is what others felt when dealing with me. Sadly, I do not have Amber's natural defense called 'Aura of cuteness' to protect me from the brunt of their annoyance when I'm ignoring them. Evidently, Summer has that protection too and she knows all too well that it will mostly keep her out of trouble and has been milking it for all it's worth lately. Damn her and those puppy dog eyes of hers.

"Oi! Stop eating those sweets already. What have I told you about eating too much in one day?" I warned Amber, pinching on the end of the lollipop stick that's sticking out of her mouth and trying my best to pull it out of her mouth without hurting her teeth.

"Nuuuuuu~" That was Amber's response, as she latched on to the candy with her teeth with no intention of letting go. Well, with all that sugar she's consumed I have no doubt she'd be plenty energized to help out now so I got that going for me at least. Amber tried pulling away from me but I kept a firm grip on the stick and wasn't giving her leverage to pull away from me. I tried pulling upwards but all I managed to accomplish was lifting Amber up from the ground like a fish danging on a hook.

I would have find the scene funny if I wasn't trying to prevent the kid from getting diabetes.

The familiar ringing of the bell informed me that someone just walked in and I quickly let go of candy. Amber dropped to the ground with a squeak from her soles as I turn to face the front door, slightly panicking as I thought that Summer and Boss were back.

When I saw who it was that entered I allow myself a sigh of relief and relaxed as it was only the old lady that frequent this cafe during the afternoons. Idly, I noted that it's really late now and the ladies still haven't returned yet. Odd. Wonder what they're doing right now.

Oh well, guess there's more time before the inevitable explanation I have to give. Hope future me would have cooked up a believable story then but for now, I guess it's time to get to work. Time to see just how well Amber would do as a waitress.

….

….

…

And of course, ten minutes in and I had already forgotten all about the part where I'm not suppose to let her carry the tray when there's anything heavy on top. She dropped the entire thing like one would expect when letting a six year old hold fragile objects. I don't know if it's normal but the word 'Bankruptcy' kept echoing inside my mind as I tried to reassure the crying child that no, I am not mad at her for dropping the dishes and looking for any wounds that she might have gotten from the glass shards.

At least I managed to kept a smiling poker face while silently mourning my wallet.

 **(0)**

When Summer returned back from her shopping trip ahead of her long time friend -slash- aunt figure, she was expecting a lot of things. Things like the cool air of the air conditioner as opposed to the warm one outside, the sight of a lazy co-worker that may or may not be asleep while standing, having to suffer one of his teasing spree or maybe even having to dodge one of his traps that he had prepared when she was out.

But out of all the things she had prepared herself for when she entered the place that caused so much to change in her life, she was not prepared for this.

The first thing she saw when she entered the cafe was a tiny, child sized panda.

Said tiny panda was walking on it's two stubby legs as it head towards one of the many tables in the cafe. From what she could see, it was heading towards one that had old lady Lavender sitting by it. Lavender was watching the black and white bear approach with clear amusement twinkling in her eyes. Summer also noticed the little steps that the panda made seem to be squeaking whenever it's feet touches the ground as it walk in a jolly manner, skipping lightly every once a few steps that made the little creature all the more adorable to those looking.

She knew it was a kid wearing a panda suit just from a glance, who doesn't. From what she could tell from a brief glace at the child's face, it's little girl perhaps? She wasn't sure yet.

Shaking her eyes away from the panda, Summer quickly look around to see what everyone's reaction was when faced with such an odd scene. She noticed that like her, everyone was staring at the panda with an intense focus. The air was so tense that it could smother a Nevermore as it was flying through. They also seem to be silently cheering it on for some reason, some were whispering to one another excitedly as they look on and Summer got her answer as to why they were doing so when she look back at the child.

When little girl finally reached the table Summer saw that she was carrying a tray with a bowl of soup on it. Just what kind of irresponsible idiot would let a child carry something like that is beyond her. The child seem to be struggling to maintain the balance of the tray as tried to carefully place the tray on the table. Due to her height, that task proves to be a problem and she could clearly see puddles of the soup already spilled onto the tray. Her first instincts were to rush over and help, taking the tray from the tiny panda so that she doesn't hurt itself. But upon seeing how hard she was trying, she felt compelled to join in the silent cheering and she did so with gusto while still not clearly understanding the situation around her.

And the question still remained, why is there a child in a panda suit in the cafe?

Summer quickly tore her gaze away from the adorable child and glance towards the counter, hoping to find her co-worker there. He would most likely know just why a kid serving the customers in his place. But when her eyes landed on the familiar looking male, she found that her co-worker was holding his breath, his body entirely tensed and his eyes were starting at the panda with a gaze so serious that she had wondered if it was actually someone else standing there. This would be the first time since knowing him had she seen him so focused without a trace of the usually lay back atmosphere around him. If anything, he looked outright horrified and is about to suffer a heart attack from all the stress he's feeling before fainting.

She never imagined that she would see him this way. It's already odd by itself that he could actually feel stressed at all with the way he choose to live his life.

It's just so weird to see him so alert for a change. Usually he only put in effort or attention when he's trying to get a raise out of her or when Aunt May was nearby. She briefly wondered if the person behind the counter was actually an imposter and had replaced her co-worker during the time she was out.

But that thought was cut short rather abruptly when she heard a soft clunk originating from where the panda was last seen, followed by sharp gasps all around her from the other customers. She quickly turn her head back to the child, fearing the worst as she thought the tiny thing might have tilted the bowl too much and spilled the soup completely.

Summer saw the bowl on the tray wobble visibly even from a distance and the contents were spilled just a little bit more, splashing onto the tray and table. She also noticed that the child had turn her head just enough for her to see her face. Apparently, the panda head was actually just a life like hood and underneath that hood revealed a doll like face with a tanned skin tone. Her short brown bangs that were clearly visible along with a pair of brown eyes widen in fearful panic.

 _'Oh_ _no it's going to spill over!'_ Summer thought to herself, her hands shot upwards to cover her mouth to stop herself from gasping out loud as she watched in muted horror while the bowl continue to wobble.

Everyone seem to be holding their breath as they watched, the entire cafe turned deadly silent like a graveyard in the dead of night. At the corner of Summer's eyes, she saw her co-worker had already pushed himself half-way over the counter.

It looked like he was about to jump towards the table where the child was at to stop the bowl from completely spilling over but she knew that he would not be fast enough. Thankfully, just when he was about to leap off and most probably slam his face onto the floor due to his positioning, the bowl then made one last clunk as it finally settle down on the tray, staying as still as a statue and everyone breath out in relief at the same time.

Jerkface promptly slump over the counter like a puppet with it's strings cut and let out a long, tired sounding sigh as he relaxes. Perhaps he's relaxing a bit too much because he looked like he had fallen asleep there, completely unmoving as he became one with the wooden worktop.

Oh, who was she trying to kid. He totally fell asleep there. How he managed to keep his job for so long with that lazy personality of his is a wonder that's for sure. Maybe she should ask Aunt May one of these days to get an answer if she could remember to.

The little girl still had a look of panic on her face as she stare at Old lady Lavender, no doubt still thinking about the mess she had made as she looked down at the table and then back towards the old woman.

The old lady didn't seem to mind the spilled soup as she move the bowl away from the tray while the child appeared to be frozen in shock. She also seem to be largely amused by the sight of a hardworking panda as she smile warmly at the child. She gingerly reached out her hand and stroke the girl on the head, saying something to her to ease her worries.

The child seemingly relaxes and let loose a small giggle as she nodded to what the old woman was saying. She quickly took out a cloth from somewhere on her, most likely a pocket or something and proceeds to clean the table and the tray. Idly, Summer noticed that it's the same one that she usually uses when she wipes tables. When the child was done the old woman said something that Summer could interpret as a 'thank you' due to having heard it so many times while working here and could recognize the lip motion. The child nodded bashfully, trying to hide her face behind the tray she was carrying before leaving with a happy smile on her face.

She was skipping merrily on her way and creating squeaks when her feet touches the ground as she head to serve other customers.

Upon seeing such a scene Summer could help but snicker to herself as a feeling of giddiness arose in her chest upon seeing something so cute. She wasn't the only one enjoying the sight of a child in a panda costume running about because the rest of the customers seem to be in good mood themselves. But now that the panda serving event was over, Summer quickly snap her mind back to the problem at hand, her face took on a serious expression as her eyes wander towards the only person in the vicinity that may or may not explain to her just what's going on.

Said person was still slouching over the counter, still haven't moved an inch since attempting to vault over it. With a roll of her eyes, Summer started moving forward towards the counter to wake him up and start interrogating him for answers. Hopefully he would answer without any of his word games that he usually employ to keep her distracted until he found a way out.

But as she was moving, the child in the panda suit had, for some inexplicable reason, suddenly dash towards her from her blind spot. But being someone who had trained in a combat school before, she had noticed the incoming child missile even before she saw her. But truthfully, it's because of the rapid squeaking the child made whenever she took a step. Summer twisted around towards the source of the sound only to be greeted with the sight of the panda rushing towards her with a bright and happy smile on her face.

Once the little girl got close enough, she leaped and latched onto her leg like a koala, or rather, like a panda. Thankfully, Summer had succeeded in suppressing her instinctive response towards flying ballistics otherwise she would have dodged out of the way or used the nearby furniture as a shield. Either way, the child would have been hurt had she reacted defensively and she was thankful that she didn't; but it didn't stop her from feeling confused at the child's actions and her body from tensing like a coiled spring when she suddenly jumped at her.

The child had managed to knock her back a few steps since she didn't expect that much force behind her charge but that's all she managed to do. A pair of brown eyes look up at her that seem to be sparkling with childish innocence as they stared into her silver ones. Said silver eyes could only stare back in pure confusion as the owner of said eyes tried to figure out what the child wanted and why she's sticking to her like so.

At the sight of the curious child tilting her head to the side at her in a quizzing manner, Summer suddenly had the unexplained urge to glomp the kid in the panda costume, cuddle her and then rub her cheeks against hers. It had taken most of her willpower just to stop herself from gushing over the child and she sorely wishes she could just pick her up and snuggle away.

It should be noted that Summer was wearing her casual grab right now instead of her work uniform; mainly because walking in the streets while wearing a maid outfit is just plain embarrassing for her. The stares she would get would be too much for her, especially the weird ones she would get from the males. She knows for a fact that Jerkface wouldn't mind being in his uniform when he goes out to do stuff but that's mainly because he's just too plain lazy to change them and opt to just go with whatever's convenient for him.

She also had a faint feeling that he would walk around naked if he couldn't find something to wear for the day. Maybe that's why she took it upon herself to bring in the laundry for the two people that were living here whenever she came by just so she wouldn't have to witness a traumatic event. But she left his underwear alone though. There's no way she's going to touch that vile piece of undergarment even if some sort of miracle weapon that could erase all Grimms from the face of existence was hidden in there.

She didn't know what's worst, the fact that she was already familiar enough with him to guess his habits or that she had already accepted that kind of thing is the norm for him and started taking steps to counter them.

Looking back at the child, her mind started to run a mile a minute with countless questions being processed but not one has been answered.

 _Who_ _'s_ _this girl? Where did she get that costume and where can_ _I_ _get one? Why is_ _she_ _hugging_ _my_ _leg? Can_ _I_ _pinch those wittle cheeks of hers? Why is there a little girl in the cafe_ _in the first place_ _?_ _Can I take a picture with her-_

Summer's thoughts were cut off when the child's innocent smile turned into a wide grin that spread across her face. For some reason, it unnerved her a lot as the visage reminded her of a wolf removing it's sheep clothing...and her weird coworker whenever he's about prank someone.

"Mummy!" she called out to her and then smother her own face against her leg like an excited cat would when trying to get it's owner's attention.

And just like that, Summer's brain came to a crushing halt and she could only stare at the child with her mouth agape. The child's shout managed to attract the attention of almost everyone in the cafe and all eyes were on her before she even knew it. Thankfully she didn't notice them as her brain had malfunctioned and was attempting to reboot itself; otherwise, she would be a blushing mess right now from all the attention she was getting.

The patrons within the cafe were watching the two girls like they've just found the latest juicy gossip to talk among themselves.

A sharp gasp came from the back of the cafe and that was what restarted Summer's brain.

Summer snap her gaze away from the adorable chibified child of unknown origins and look straight towards the counter where the gasp originated from. There she found her lazy co-worker with his hands covering his mouth. The expression of pure disbelief was etched onto his face like a painting, clearly visible for all to see; his bright blue eyes were widen in surprise as he stare at her incredulity and his bangs were hanging slightly in front of them as he reel his head back from his slouching position. Now that she thought about it, his hair was a bit longer than she first met him, jet black and quite ridiculously spiky that it reminded her of a pincushion. Just how long had it been since he last got a haircut?

Oh right, practically never, because he never went out unless forced. She had also asked what kind of gel did he used to make them stand up like that and the amount it would take to keep it that way but according to him, it's all natural.

Anyone looking at him right now would think that he was genuinely shocked at the sight of a six year old child calling someone that's barely fifteen mother, but not Summer. No siree.

That's mainly because she knew what kind of person he is by now. Just looking at that obviously fake shocked face of his made her suspected that he may have a hand in the mysterious child calling her mother.

Heck, why did she even bother to suspect him. It's definitely him. Definitely.

"Well I never, Summer!" he exclaimed in a way that managed to sound like he had been struck by lightning. It didn't help that there was a flash of light and the clapping of thunder going off behind him at the moment. It would've been extremely convincing had she not already knew that he was faking it. His hand was probably on the light switch under the counter that he would occasionally use for dramatic effects like that fake lightning strike just now. She had no idea how and where he got that sound effect though. Must be something new.

"You never told me that you had a child already. To think that you have been leading me on for so long with all the flirting we did. Oh, how my poor, fragile heart shatters." He cried out dramatically as he clutches he chest, the area around him went dark with only a spot light shining on him.

Summer instantly facepalmed.

It's been three months and he still hasn't let that go. It briefly made her wondered why they were still friends in the first place. But if she were to be honest, he's genuinely a nice guy when he wasn't being annoying like right now, not that she would ever admit that to his face. She was also reminded that things were usually more interesting when he's around because he tends to make you stay on your toes if you don't want to be surprised by the things he does.

"Okay, one." She lifted a finger up. "She's not my child and two," another finger joined the first as a small red hue became slowly visible on her face as she maintained eye contact with the guy. "We have never, in any possible way, been flirting with each other and three, I think your poor shattered heart could take a few more beatings."

"Weeeeeellllll, my heart could probably take a rocket blast without much problem but only once though because I'll be dead if I actually tried." Jerkface stated while dropping the act with an amused smirk on his face as he did a so and so gesture with his hand. "Also, you have no proof that she isn't your child." The lighting had already turned back to normal as he lean against the counter, placing his chin on his palms and wagging his eyebrows.

The panda child look up at her with bright glistening eyes and pouted at her. "Is Mummy mad at me?" she asked with a heartbroken voice, her lips were quivering as those brown eyes of hers stare into her silver ones.

She wanted to hug her. She wanted to hug her so badly but she settled with patting her head gently, causing the little girl to squirm under her touch before giving Jerkface a deadpanned look. "Unless you have severe short shortsightedness, you can clearly see that we look nothing alike. You must have bribed her or something to get her to do this." She said as she pointed at the oh so adorable child, her voice the same as her gaze: as dry as Vacuo's deserts.

"Well, you're half right about that. She's actually willing to do it for free thought but I'm still going to pay her anyway because I'm such a great guy." Jerkface shrugged casually with not a single trace of shame in sight for using an innocent child for his own amusement.

"Well, whatever prank you were planning has failed." Summer declared with her chest puffed up in pride. It's all thanks to spending too much time with him that had let her develop a kind of resistance to avoid being turned into a flustered red mess. It had been a long and tenacious journey for her. Every single time they met he would try something to get to her and it would always ended up her getting all red and shuttering as he laugh or snickers at her when she did.

All those tortured days she had spent being agonized by her embarrassment had finally saw fit to reward her. Now she could take at least a few compliments or teasing from Jerkface without going red. And thanks to the hints and tips from a certain anonymous aunt of hers, she is slowly getting back at him now. There's no way she's going to let him win all the time after all.

Jerkface, to her shock and surprise, pouted. An honest to Oum's genuine pout. She had seem him pout before alright but all those time it was just him pretending to be upset or dissatisfied. Now though, now he seemed to be upset for real that his prank didn't go the way he had intended. Not that she know what he was planning in the first place.

"Alright Amber, you did your part, you can let go now." Jerkface told the child with a disappointed tone as he let out an annoyed huff, crossing his arms around his chest as he sulks deeply while his eyes darting down towards the panda latched onto her leg.

Summer had to stop herself from fist pumping in victory

When the words left his mouth, the panda child disengaged from her hold and hopped a few steps back before spinning around on her heels to face Jerkface. Amber, as she was called, did a childish salute with her hand but ended up swatting off her hood instead, revealing her short brown hair for the world to see. She let out a surprised 'ah' before quickly tugging the hood back on and scampering away towards the counter.

Once Amber reaches it, she suddenly shot Jerkface a thumbs up, grinning widely with her teeth showing while Jerkface gave her a thumbs up of his own along with an approving nod. Summer couldn't help but feel like she's missing out on something as she watch the two interact with each other. Amber then place both her hands together, palms up and held it towards Jerkface with a look of anticipation. Said person just frowned and place a lollipop on her hands before she cheerfully stuff them down her costume's pocket.

"Remember, enough sweets for today okay?" Jerkface warned the child, surprising Summer as he sounded stern for once. Amber just pouted before giving a reluctant nod and dart off to the side to do her own thing, leaving Summer and Jerkface alone.

With Amber gone, Jerkface just melted back into the counter, hoping that no one would see him so he'd have more things to do. But it's pretty useless as he would always be the first thing people see when they entered this place.

Summer couldn't help but smile at how happy Amber looked as she move away before turning her attention back to the male. "So what was the prank you were planning on pulling with her anyway?" Summer asked as she move closer so they don't have to raise their voices when they talk. It would certainly stop a lot of people from overhearing their conversation.

Jerkface gave her a confused frown before he closed his eye, one of his hand went up to rub his chin as he hmm'd like he's actually doing some deep thinking. "Not sure, can't remember." he finally told her with a shrug.

"Seriously?" Summer uttered out in disbelief, unsure whether or not to believe him.

"Hey, what can I say, I have a short memory span. If a plan already fails and no longer have any value, I purge it from my memory for more space to store more of my dastardly plans."

"It's been only a few seconds."

"What were we talking about again?" He asked innocently while tilting his head in confusion but Summer could see the twitching at the corner of his lips, just like all the other times he would when he did something to irritate her on purpose. He's hiding something, that's for sure.

"Ugh, never mind." Summer gave up on pursing the subject, rolling her eyes and lightly shaking her head in resignation. And to think she had wondered just what kind of secrets he was trying to hide from her three months ago and was curious to know more about him. Now she's not really sure if she ever wanted to find out just what is going on inside that head of his. The more she learned the more she wished she didn't. She can already imagine the horrifying jumbled mess that made up most of his thinking process.

And so, in effort not to pry into the mind of someone who would pour ketchup all over fries like a deranged psychopath, Summer turned her gaze towards the kid that's hiding behind a pot of plant and happily sucking on the lollipop, looking like she has just entered her own little heaven. It looks like the plant was positioned just right so Jerkface couldn't see her. "So, who's the child?" Summer finally asked the main question that had been plaguing her mind.

Jerkface inexplicably stood up straight, those bright blue eyes of his seem to shining with their usual mischievous glint in them, one that she had seen plenty of times during the duration of the time she had spent working here. That by itself was enough to make her worry. The look in his eye usually meant she would be in the receiving end of a prank or his.

Jerkface then did a grand gesture towards the child in panda suit was supposedly at, both arms stretched out towards her and face brimming with pride, like someone dramatically presenting something of grand importance. "She's the product of our love! Please acknowledge her existence and let her call you mummy." He announced with a grin worthy of his namesake.

Summer bristled as her face suddenly flushed a healthy shade of red. She wanted to say that she would never have a kid with him but she remembered the look in his eyes and didn't fall for the bait. Instead she just narrowed her eyes, forcing down her blush through plenty of practice that she had before and gave him the best deadpanned stare she could muster.

"Ha ha ha." Summer said, as in, saying those words out loud instead of actual laughing. Her eyes narrowed a thin margin, her eyes never leaving his with her deadpan look still in place. "Yeah, no. The joke wasn't funny the first time and it certainly isn't funny the second." Her tone was so cold that it could freeze hell over.

Jerkface drops his arms with a slouch before he look to the side with pout. "You're no fun at all. It used to be so easy too." Jerkface muttered the last bit to himself but Summer heard and tried her best to hide her grin. She was immensely satisfied that her poker face held like she intended. Usually it's not so perfect and she'd look like her entire face was twitching and he'd call out on her bluff.

"I'm still here you know." she added, sounding rather smug.

Jerkface immediately turn back to her. "But how can you be so su-"

"That's because I could and most certainly would, remember giving birth to a child." She stated the obvious with a roll of her eyes.

"Ah! That's because I was the one who gave birth to her instead!" He declared, sounding ever so serious that manged to stun those who were listening in on their banter into silence because of the sheer conviction in his tone. Gasps echoed all around, shock and surprise was clearly the main emotions they were feeling as some heads that were originally pretending to be focusing on their own table snapped towards the scene

The silence was broken when Summer started snickering, doing her best to stop herself from laughing out loud. She purse her lips together with a hand over her mouth in her attempts to hold her laughter in. His claim was so absurd that Summer really couldn't help herself. "Really, who's the kid." Summer asked once she managed to get her laughter down.

"Who?"

"Kid in the panda suit. That's who."

"Oh, that's Amber." Jerkface answered before shutting up, as if telling her that that was all she's getting about their new waitress. A few moments passed in silence as they stare at one another, Jerkface looking rather neutral while Summer just looked unamused.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Care you elaborate a little more on the mysterious child?" Summer pointed at the child behind the large flowerpot.

"Oh. That." Jerkface intoned, finally noticing that Amber was eating the sweet that he had specifically told her not to. "Oh Amber~ come over here please." He called out to her in an oh so sweet voice that sounded like it was filled to the brim with promise of punishments. Oddly enough, Summer almost thought that it was Aunt May that was standing in Jerkface's place because he sounded so much like her when she was in her parenting mode.

The plant suddenly jerked as Amber flinched behind it and slowly poke out her head to see whether or not she had misheard her name being called. Jerkface didn't look amused when he saw the lollipop in her mouth and pointed at the ground in front of the counter, silently telling the child to get over there immediately.

A guilty look was ever present on Amber's face when she slowly walk over with her head down to where Jerkface was pointing, looking like a criminal walking towards her execution with their shoes squeaking with each step. Summer couldn't help but be reminded of the squeaky shoes that she often seen toddlers wore.

When Amber reached the counter Jerkface lean over the counter and place his open palm near her mouth and nodded at it. Amber took her lollipop out of her mouth and placed it there. Jerkface ignored the stickiness of the candy and gave her a stern stare. Amber had the decency to look sheepish as she let out an 'eh he he', rubbing the back of her head with her tongue sticking out.

With a roll of his eyes, he wrap the lollipop in a wrapper and put away. "Anyway, someone is really interested in meeting you so I thought I'd might as well introduce you two."

"Really?" Amber asked eagerly with a bright smile, her entire body seem to be vibrating with energy as she stop in front of the two, her eyes darting towards Summer tilt her head in an angle that seem to convey curiosity.

"Amber, the Tiny Panda, meet Summer, The Cookie Snatcher. Summer The Cookie Snatcher, meet Amber the Tiny Panda." Jerkface introduced them, nodding at each of them respectively.

"Oi!" Summer cried out. "It was just one time! And what's with the weird titles you keep giving people?" she finished with a bemused glace at the male's direction.

"And it just had to be the one time that I was actually looking forward to trying that new recipe. I spent the whole day thinking about them too." The male murmured in annoyance, sending a glare that caused Summer to glance away while whistling as innocently as she could. "Anyway, elaboration complete. I do believe that my job's done here." He nodded to himself in sanctification, feeling like he had accomplished a great deal and completely neglecting the part where he's suppose to explain to her where the child came from, why she's here and what are they suppose to do with her.

Summer just stare at him, her flat expression seem to convey that she is anything but amused. Amber just tilt her head to the side as she watched them both with waning interest.

Jerkface gave Summer a goofy grin but it died an ugly death when he saw the narrowed eyed stare that Summer was giving him. It seem to have deterred his will to continue messing with her. Of course it would, she had given him that look enough times for him to know that it's time to stop or else he'd suffer the consequences. Mainly, more chores for him to do as Summer pushes hers onto him as punishment. If there's anything else he hates more than being forced outside, it's more work to do.

"I sorta found her outside and took her in because she was hungry." he quickly blurted out. Summer blinked in surprise, her gaze turning towards Amber and found that she had already lost interest in what they were doing and was sneaking around the counter to where Jerkface had placed her lollipop.

"So, you just happen to find a random child outside….and took her in? Just like that?" Summer worded carefully so that they would be no misunderstandings, arms crossed and gazing into Jerkface's eyes for any sign of lying...not that she had that particular skill in the first place but that didn't stopping her from trying _._

"Yep." he responded immediately, completely unaware what Summer was trying to imply when she said that.

"I'm guessing that you made her work for you in exchange for food?" Summer asked, thinking back to when she first saw Amber when she was serving the old lady.

"Yep." he repeated in a 'no big deal' kind of way and popping the 'P'

"So it's basically forced child labour then?" Summer's exclaimed in surprise but not loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"W-what!? No no no no no!" Jerkface panicked as he wave his arms in front of him. "I didn't force anyone to do anything! I can't believe you would even think I would do something like that….well, I did trick her into thinking that she could pay off her nonexistent debt if she helped out." He finishes with a sheepish smile.

"I'm calling the cops." Summer said, sounding rather unsure if she should send her (maybe) friend behind bars for scamming a kid into debt as her hand reach into her skirt pocket for her scroll. Now that she thought about it, there was the sinking suspicion that maybe he did the same to her when they first met since she's also in debt because of him.

Jerkface's eyes widen to great proportion at her claim and he quickly turned his attention towards Amber, the Tiny Panda, thinking that maybe he could use her as a distraction to stop Summer from calling the cops on him. "Amber, what do you say when you meet someone new?" he tried to hide the panic in his voice as he asked her in a way a parent would when trying to get their children to do something.

Amber immediately come to his aid without question and ran around the counter to meet Summer, eyes shining brightly. "Hello, I'm a panda." She greeted cheerfully as she shot her hand up into the air in greeting. Then she place both her hands near her chest, fingers arched to act like paws before she skipped forward and let out a squeaky 'rawr'.

Her sudden greeting cause Summer to temporary forget what she was about to do and she switch her focus to the little panda. "Hi….? Yes, I can see that." Summer greeted back and instinctively took her hand out of her pocket to give a small wave. She was a bit taken aback by how energetic Amber was but then again, it could be all the sugar she had consumed. Again she was hit with the unexplained urge to pinch those soft little cheeks of hers and smother her with hugs. Her fingers were twitching just to do just that.

"Pandas don't go 'rawr' Amber. They're more docile creatures and uses a variety of sounds to communicate with each other; some growl, some squeak others bark or huff. It really depends on what they wanna say though." Jerkface explained sagely, secretly relief that Summer was no longer in process of pulling her scroll out.

"How and why do you know something like that?" Summer gave him a quizzing stare with an eyebrow raised.

"Useless internet trivia." he answered

Amber tilt her head with a frown, eyebrows furrowing together and looking to be in deep thought before brightening up again. "Then I'll just go 'ruff' instead" she barked, her child like voice only made it all the more adorable, her hands still acting like paws by her chest. If she had a tail, it would totally be wagging excitedly.

"That would probably be a dog instead." Jerkface pointed out.

Summer crouched before Amber, both her knees pulled up to her chest and her hands placed on her knees as her bright silver eyes gaze warmly into Amber's brown ones. "Oh~ aren't you just adorable." she half cooed, half squealed as she went to pinch her cheek with both hands, earning a squeak from the girl as she tries to swat the hands away from assaulting her cheeks.

"Big bro Alex! S'fe mwe!" Amber cried out in panic as she struggled to escape from Summer's grasp.

"Who?" Summer stops her abuse on those little cheeks of hers upon hearing an unfamiliar and strange name coming from Amber. Then again, she had never met the child before so it wouldn't be strange if she call out to someone she never knew. But still, Alex? Now she's curious to meet someone with such an odd name.

"That would be me." The male in front of them helpfully supplied.

"Wait, your name is Alex!?" Summer exclaimed in surprise as she turn to face him. Her brain was wracking her memories for a time where he had ever mentioned his name to her. But it was after searching for a moment did she became aware that he had never told her his name before. Alex, huh. What kind of colour is that?

Amber used the chance Summer's pause had given her to escape and she broke free from her grasp with a quick yank of her head. Summer's fingers slid off effortlessly from those smooth cheeks of her and Amber quickly dart away to hide behind the counter. Summer's head snapped back to face the little panda. Amber's head was poking out to see whether or not Summer was going to follow her just to pinch her again as she glared rather angrily at the redhead. Amber's face were slightly red and stinging now but other than that, there was no harm done.

At the sight of Amber's distrustful stare, Summer couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed for losing herself like that and chuckled as she rub the back of her head. The little girl just duck back behind the counter after sticking her tongue out at her.

"Well, yeah. Why?" Alex finally answered her question, tilting his head slightly in an inquiring manner. Summer return her attention back to him before answering.

"Alex is such a weird name Is that why you never told me in the first place?" She regarded him with quizzing expression and Amber just let out a 'Ha' as she point at finger at Alex, looking like she had won some sort of argument and is looking quite proud of herself.

She could see his eyebrows twitched as he smiled at Amber, but unlike most of his smile, this one seemed strained. It's almost like he's feeling annoyed that his name was being mocked. He uses his hand to make the go away gesture at her and Amber dutifully obeyed, giggling as she left them alone. Once she's gone Alex turn his attention back to Summer "It's because you never asked." he told her in mock ruefulness. "You've known me for months and you never bothered to ask for my name? Then again, you have been calling me Jerkface ever since you've known me. It's almost like you wanted my name to be Jerkface." He accused with an expression of obviously fake hurt, pouting and quivering his lips as he look sadly at her.

"Well, it's not my fault that you always have that stupid grin on you face." Summer retorted as she cross her arms in front of her chest, turning to the side as she pouted with a small huff.

"Well, it's not my fault that you're always so fun to tease." He countered.

"Then stop teasing me!" Summer let out as she put her hands on her hips and stood tall, glaring at Alex while trying to look intimidating. But unbeknownst to her, her attempt to look somewhat threatening has severely diminished in effect because she was pouting and Alex just smiled at the sight, clearly enjoying her reactions.

"Then stop being so cute!" He quipped back, unable to hide the amusement he's feeling in his voice.

"I don't know what you find cute about me at all!" Summer replied, looking slightly miffed because she couldn't understand what he has to gain by riling her up so much as her back arched like an angry cat.

That caused Alex to paused and put his hand on his chin as he stroke his non-existent goatee. "That's a tough one. Pretty much most your facial expressions are some kind of cute." he finally said, grinning like an idiot.

Summer spluttered denials almost immediately with a reddish hue on her face, trying her best to hide the fact that his comment got her flustered. Evidently she failed because Alex was making the face that got him the name Jerkface in the first place. Summer look away and took a deep breath to calm down. She could feel the heat on her cheek receding after a moment and sighed exasperatedly. "Ugh, you're impossible to talk to." She paused before continuing. "Alex's still a strange name though. It doesn't even sound like it could be linked to a colour." She murmured out the last part.

"No it is not!" He uttered out with a scandalized gasp. "I-It-" He stopped short, unable to continue and his eyes started darting around as if trying to find some sort of answer hidden around the place. His eyes stopped on the light bulb hanging above them and his eyes widen as some sort of idea seem to form in his mind. His eyes quickly snapped back towards Summer. "It stems from electricity! Just replace the 'E' with a 'A' and cut out the rest after the 'T' and place an 'X' there." he told her, but there was a certain uncertainty in his voice. It almost like he just made it up on the spot and wasn't sure if it would fly.

Probably because he did.

But she's going to conceded to his argument mainly because she didn't think it would be worth the effort to continue arguing. "That makes sense I suppose." She told him. "Still sounds strange though."

"Says the girl that was literally named after a season." he remarked.

"Hey! I'll have you know that my name is actually quite common." Summer righteously defended her own name.

And so, their banter continued as they went off track again and again with no end in sight as Summer kept forgetting to ask what they were suppose to do with Amber.

She will in time though.

 **(0)**

"I could teach her how to be a waitress so that she could replace you one day." I told Summer when she finally asked what I'm going to do with Amber. One of my hand was held up high and holding on to the third lollipop Amber had taken out to eat without me noticing. Amber is currently hopping in place, trying to reach her sweet without any progress and choose to latch onto my leg and started climbing up like I'm some kind of bamboo tree. You know, if I were completely green, it would look like a panda trying to reach for the leaves (read: lollipop) at the top of the branch.

Seeing that Summer's no longer going to be with us anymore once she's out of debt, we're going to need more help around here. The cafe -slash- tavern is getting really popular these days and honestly and we're ridiculously understaffed. It's a miracle that the customers were all patient enough to wait for their orders to arrive, even if it took about half an hour to a full hour to do so. I've heard Boss muttering to herself about needing to hire some help once Summer's gone too.

"Replace me? Why!? Do you really hate me that much that you're willing to use a random child that you've found on the road for a substitute?" Summer accused with a frown. The confusion and sadness was clearly evident in her voice as she asked me that; poor girl looked like a kicked puppy.

"No, it's not like that Summy." I said with both my hands placed in front of me in a placating gesture, smiling wearily. I'm not even sure if I'm capable of hating such an adorable creature like her. "The reason why you're being replaced is because your debt is almost paid back in full. You only have to work until the end of the month before you no longer have any reason to work here. I thought you knew that." Not that she knew of course but at least it would cause her to pause to think about whether or not me or Boss had ever mentioned the little tidbit to her. Something which she's doing right now because she had a thoughtful look on her face. "With you gone, we're going to need more help more than ever. I don't fancy taking on the zombie horde all alone without a cute mascot to act as distraction." I continued.

I'd figure Summer would be happy to know that she no longer has to suffer all that teasing from me but yet, somehow she didn't look so happy as I thought she would as she regarded me with a raise eyebrow. "Are you serious? Because I don't remember something like that being mentioned before." That question was delivered with so much skepticism that I couldn't help but mimic Summer's action and raise an eyebrow of my own, feeling no small amount of surprise.

Wow, to think that someone like Summer is actually capable of being suspicious of something. She had grown so much since we've first meet that I really couldn't tell whether or not I should feel proud or guilty that I have a hand in that. There was one thing that I figured out very quickly about her during the first week here is that she was somewhat gullible.

Okay I lied. She was very gullible.

She usually just believed me no matter what I say and boy did I took advantage of that just to see how far her naivety goes. Last time she even believed me when I say that cotton candy was made out of cloud particles that people harvest. Looks like she finally learned to take what I say with a SDC crate full of salt.

Oh how I'll miss the old naive little Summer, but at least her naivety would show ever once in a while so that's fine. Then again, it was my fault that she's starting to be more cautious than before so I can't complain. Clearly she hasn't forgiven me for tricking her into eating raisin cookies thinking that they were chocolate.

"Serious is my middle name." I answered her cheekily with a smile.

"Alex Serious? Now your name just went from odd to ridiculous." Summer told me as she shook her head lightly, trying her best to hide her smile so she could stick to her serious inquisition mode. "What's your last name then? Might as well just tell me so I don't have to find out in some big reveal later. I know how dramatic you can be from time to time."

Hmm, I could tell her my full name since there's not much of a point to keep it hidden. But it's not like I ever tried to in the first place; the subject just never came up. I'm still impressed that I'm able to get by for three months without even naming myself.

There's still the colour aspect of the naming rule to consider. Sure some people around here have names that could be considered normal in my world but their last or middle name will always have something to do with colours. My real name sure as hell didn't have anything related to them. Will the people around me become more suspicious of me if I were to told them my full name? At least with Alex I can still pass it off as electricity. I could use a fake one but hell, I have a very bad naming sense and it might just be worst than my real name.

Then again, I could always change the subject.

Oh well, time to pull an excuse straight out of my ass...or from my dirty mind to use as a distraction. Preferably by saying something that would stop her from asking ever again all the while leaving her a blushing mess. I really like to see her blush. I miss those times where it could easily be achieved.

Alright Brain, don't fail me now. Give me something to work with here.

And just as I had asked the organ floating in cerebrospinal fluid inside my skull like some mad scientist's test subject, it had provided a reasonable answer dutifully. Or rather, the organ down south did, the one that could never be trusted with logical thinking and decision making.

"Well...my last name could be Rose if you want it to be." I suggested without thinking, the words come straight out of my mouth without having a chance for my brain to properly comprehend it first. It's like all the other times I could have avoided trouble had I just stop for a second just to think about what's about to come out of my mouth.

I blinked, surprised at what I had said. I blinked again and let loose a mental irritated growl at my libido for even thinking of that in the first place. No, bad libido. Seriously, I know she's cute and all but dudeeeee she's Ruby's mum. That fact by itself is enough to ward me away from ever getting too close to her least I prevented the adorable ball of cuteness and sunshine from ever being born if I interfere too much. Sides, she's jailbait right now, not that I know the legal age for sex is in this world so we're following the laws of my old one for now. Oh well, what's said is said and could never be taken back. Hope I didn't just dig my own grave with that line.

Wait, since I'm technically the same age as her, does that mean I'm also underage to have sex too?

Curses! And here I was, planning to head to the strip club again one day….once Miss saggy tits no longer works there of course.

And of course, the yet to be fully corrupted Summer had no idea what I was talking about because she just looked confused as fuck right now, which is a good thing I suppose. "Why would your last name being the same as mine have anything to do with-" Summer trailed off, a look of realization dawn upon her features as her eyes widen slowly while looking at me.

Oh well, looks like she knew what I was talking about after all. At least she would think that I'm joking like always, hopefully. Apparently, it took Summer a full five second to understood the implication of what I had said, kinda slow yes but three months ago she would still be obvious to things like that so there's progress there at least. It took her another five to get her face from her usual pale white complexion to resemble a very ripe tomato.

Summer crossed her arms and glared, the redness of her face still hasn't receded a bit. "Never." She stated. "I'd rather marry a miserable drunkard than you." She delivered without her usual trace of shuttering. I couldn't help but feel a little twinge of disappointed about that. It looks like I'll have to step up my game if I ever wanted to get her to be the stammering mess like before. "And I pity whoever ended up marrying you in the future." She added with a tone of finality that this conversation is over before huffing and looking away.

She's trying act calm but I know that she's actually flustered inside. The frantic waving of her ahoge is a dead giveaway. And yet she still wonders how everyone is able to read her so easily. Has she ever looked up at her head? Or does her ahoge stay immobile when she's looking at it in the mirror or senses that it's owner is trying to take a peak at it. Could it be sentient then?

"Eh, I'd rather stay single anyways so your pity is meaningless." I told her truthfully. There's no way I'm going to tie myself down with marriages. The freedom of being single is too intoxicating, there's nothing on Earth, or Remnant, that I would trade it for….maybe video games. Yeah, I'll totally marry the girl that would buy me video games and let me play them in peace every once in a while.

Summer just rolled her eyes at me. "I'm guessing that's your excuse for not being able to get a girlfriend. I'll be surprise if someone could even like you the way you are." She was sporting a grin now, satisfied that she managed to get a jibe in. "Anyway, are you really not lying when you said I'm almost out of debt?" She asked, almost hopefully.

Seeing that there's no point in dragging things out like I usually do, I answered. "Yep."

Summer blinked, clearly not expecting me to just give out the answer like I just did. She'd probably expected something among the lines of diversion or some light teasing but she carried on anyway. "I was under the impression that I owe much more than I've been earning."

"Well, I may have exaggerated a bit when I told you the amount you owe. You kinda only have to pay Boss a hundred lien at best."

"A bit!? You said I owe Aunt May at least a thousand lien for the repairs." Summer cried out exasperatedly.

"Yeah, a bit. All I did was add another zero at the end. No big deal there." I shrugged.

"No big-. I've spent many sleepless nights just agonizing about the amount I owe. It would've at least taken a full year before I could finally pay off my debt." She groaned with her face in her hands and shaking her head.

"It's only a year. It's not that bad you know." I raise an eyebrow, clearly not understanding her plight. Teenagers and their money problem, bah.

"It is if I had to spend my weekends meeting you for a whole year." She said in a joking tone, smiling slightly.

"Ouch. That kinda hurt." I put my hands on my chest to give her an expression of mock hurt.

Summer snorted, but still remained smiling. "You know, my life used to be less aggravating and stressful before I met you."

"But had it ever been this interesting before you met me?" I wagged my eyebrow knowingly with a smirk..

My words made her think about what I've said as she rubs her chin in thought. It didn't take long for her to get her answer. "Huh, I guess you're right about that. But it would be better if I didn't have to see your smug face every time though." She quipped.

I took a step back with a gasp. "How could you even say that!?" I uttered out in shock. "I'll have you know that my mama says that my face is quite dashingly handsome." I told her defensively, not that mum ever did but hey, who needs to know that right?

Summer snorted in amusement. "I think she meant to say repulsively annoying." There's humor in her voice so I took no offense. Not like I could in the first place since she's almost right on the money. Just the annoying part. I'm not that repulsive…. Am I?

I would have replied but the tugging on my sleeve told me that someone was trying to get my attention and I turn my head to see who it was. Amber stood next to me, one hand holding out a notepad for me. "Caztomers' want this." she told me as she said the word 'customers' wrongly. Looks like the little panda had been doing her job all while we grown ups have been slacking off and chatting with each other. What a bad example we have set for her.

"Aww, thanks a lot Amber. And also, it's Customers, not caztomers." I took the notepad from her hand while petting her head with my other hand. Amber squirmed gleefully under my touch as I went to read just what she had wrote.

I immediately felt my eye twitched because what's on the notepad was not words that I was expecting but drawings of what I assume to be a plate with an unidentified object nesting on the middle, spewing magma out of it's pores and with steam coming out of it that looked like a face of something screaming like the damned souls in hell.

No way I'm going to spend my time deciphering this. I'm not a decoder of ancient texts. I would have told Amber about it but she's still looking at me as if I could understand her god awful drawing and waited for me to make it so she could deliver the order. I'd hate to disappoint her so I'd need a new plan. One that hopefully distracts her while I find out just what's drawn on this notepad.

My eyes quickly dart around to see if there's anything I could use and upon noticing the redhead on my side, I believe I've just found the distraction I needed.

"Amber, why don't you become friends with Summer while I go make this eh?" I suggested to the tiny panda as I wave the notepad in my hand. Naturally I'm going to head to whichever table she got the order from and ask again while she's too busy sticking to Summer, firing a metric shitload of childish questions like a minigun with unlimited ammo crafted from her endless pool of childish imagination while giving no opening for Summer to answer.

Amber perked up with a smile, obviously interested with the prospect of getting more friends and nodded excitedly, head bopping up and down with the hood nearly falling off. Then she ran towards Summer, leaping and latching onto her leg as I quickly move away to save my ear from bombardment of questions that would no doubt come from Amber. Obviously, this is when my selective deafness comes to play and I ignored Summer's plead for help as Amber kept asking multiple questions in the span of a few seconds.

I think I've mentioned it before but the kid's got a strong set of lungs.

 **-0-**

"So, care to explain why there's a child here, doing the things that _you_ were suppose to be doing?" Boss questioned sharply, heels tapping on the ground with her hands on her hips as she stare at me with a stern expression that only a very crossed mother could get right.

I gulped, feeling some sort of primal fear from within me. An emotion that had been buried deep and long forgotten within my subconscious due to years of human evolution. But due the sheer pressure that's Boss's emitting, said emotion came springing out of it's prison and took it's rightful place within my mind just to tell me that I've done fucked up. It had been a while since I had seen her like this. I usually did my best to keep on her good side to avoid facing her wrath but now I'm waist deep in shit because of my rather stupid decision to take Amber in instead of just calling the cops myself. I could try to dig my way out but I'm just scared I would only dig my own grave deeper. I'm not willing to test my luck on it without any form of insurance since I've been pushing it a lot lately.

Boss had just returned from her trip to the bank with Junior in tow. Said pack mule immediately head towards the kitchen to place the bags down, looking like he had finally found relief after years of torment and suffering. Summer was slumping down at a free table, forehead first. Her eyes completely devoid of any form of life as smoke continue to emit from her ears.

It looks like has stopped working. Not surprising considering that Amber had been talking her ear off for like twenty minutes straight.

The little girl in question is standing awkwardly in front of the counter, feet shuffling with soft squeaks and hands fidgeting as she look between me and Boss lady, unsure of what to do in this situation as we were talking about her right now.

"It's because she wanted to help?" I told her as I give her a sheepish chuckle.

Boss raised a skeptical eyebrow and look back at the girl, eyes scanning what she was wearing before returning her attention back to me, some kind of emotion was clearly visible behind those green eyes of hers but it was gone before I could tell what it was.

"Er...I can explain?" I spoke up, feeling unnerved by her stare.

"Can you really?" Boss asked with a raised eyebrow.

My eyes dart towards Amber, mind thinking of a reasonable excuse that doesn't sound out of this world but everything I came up with is just that so scrapped that idea. Hyperactive imagination isn't really doing me any good here. I could tell her the truth but that by itself is already odd, not to mention stupid. Then again, they say the truth is often stranger than fiction so why not just used it and hope Boss accepted it at face value.

I look back at the woman in front of me and spoke what comes naturally. "Would you believe me if I said that the kid has a goody two shoes that won't take the food I've given her for free and wanted to pay me back in some way so I gave her some of my chores for her to make up to me?" I said it all without taking a breath, hoping that my fast pace ranting would put Boss off a bit to diminish some of her irritation.

It didn't work. All it did was made her raise her eyebrow further.

"And just where did you find the child that just so happened to be a hungry goody two shoes that's willing to do half your job while you sit behind the counter without even helping her?" Boss crossed her arms in front of her chest, fingers tapping on her biceps as she regarded me with promise of unfathomable suffering in the form of more work, less pay if my answer doesn't satisfy her.

I winched, feeling slightly guilty as her words stabbed me right in the heart. In hindsight, I should have done that from the get go so Amber wouldn't be so nervous when she started. "Right outside?" I answered, shrinking in place and trying to appear as small as possible before the crossed, dangerous looking woman.

"Why was she outside in the first place?" Boss sounded genuinely curious for once.

"I suspected that she was lost and starving, hence the reason why she's so willing to help out when I gave her food. Kinda like a stray puppy now that I think about it."

"And you just took advantage of her, just like that?" If I didn't know any better, Boss sounded kinda annoyed with me for some reason. Hmm, must be my imagination.

"She was offering free help. Who in their right mind would deny free help?" I defended myself, using a perfectly valid excuse to just take random kids in and ensla- put to volunteer duty.

"Not when the one offering to help is obviously a child that got separated from their parent who could be worriedly searching the entire city right this very instant." She retorted instantly, somehow having moved in front of me without me noticing and slamming a fist right down at my head. My face was comically slammed onto the counter as the force of her strike drove my head down.

Ow.

Amber winched as Boss' fist found itself on it's usual spot on my scalp and could only look on with no idea what to do.

"It's one of those common sense things isn't it?" I muttered as I rub my now budding head to ease the pain. Man, the women in this world sure are tough. I think there's a permanent bump on my head and a bruise on both my shoulders after being abused for so long by the only two ladies that I know in this world. I probably deserved it. Probably.

"We really need to have a talk about it one of these days instead of letting you figure everything out all by yourself." Boss sighed, shaking her head.

Oh boy, it's not going to be something to look forward to isn't it? My lack of ability to integrate into society is really showing lately. Then again, what did I expect after spending years holed up inside my home and barely show interest in what's going on outside. I doubt I could tell what I should or shouldn't do back in my own world, let alone this one. It's a miracle that I managed to survive this long.

With another sigh, Boss turn her head towards the rebooting redhead. "Summer." Boss called out and she immediately responded by sitting straight so fast that I could see an afterimage of her laying on the table with it's eyes wide open. It would seem that the trauma of being caught slacking off by Boss that one time remains engraved deep within her as it did to me. Then her shoulders slouched, apparently remembering how tired she was after survive the minigun of questions also known as Amber as she turn to regard Boss.

"Yes?" She asked, sounding as tired as she felt.

"Call the cops." Boss told her with a serious edge in her tone as she eyed me like a criminal suspect. I started to sweat as I gulped in fear. Her words made me feel like I've been placed on the chopping block with Summer as the executioner. I'm not even sure if she's calling to cops to deal with Amber's situation or to deal with me.

Summer was so stunned by what she heard she could only blink in response, that or she just hasn't caught up with what Boss had said and is currently processing it. Her head immediately snap towards me, then towards our employer and once again towards me. Afterwards, a grin worthy of Cheshire cat made way towards her lips as her fatigue seem have to vanish slowly as she held out her scroll in front of her, eyes staring into mine with clear mischief dancing behind those silver iris of hers. I could only gape at her in betrayal. I thought we were cool mate. Had all those cookies I've offered you long ago not enough to sway you to stand beside me during times like these!?

"Sure~!" Okay, Summer sounded rather eager there.

Amber then turn to me, looking very worried as both her little hands clasp together in front of her chest. "Am I in trouble?" She asked, sounding confused and panicky.

"No Amber, Your not." I answered her because I don't need her panicking like a headless chicken if she thought it's her fault. Well, if we're talking schematics then it's technically is her fault but I'm not that heartless as to tell her that... But if we were to look at it logically, it's mostly just my fault because I was too dumb to realise an easy way out of this mess back when I had the chance.

The traitor started dialing on her scroll with a cheeky smirk on her face because she knows just as much as I do that I'm in trouble. Feeling slightly worried that they weren't kidding around, I quickly turn to the green haired woman. "Just to be sure, you're calling the cops report a missing kid instead of a kidnapping right?" I asked in a hopeful tone. Getting into trouble with the cops would mean a lot of problems, especially when I'm not even in any databases in this world...or am I? I don't really understand how dimension traveling works. If I'm lucky then maybe I would automatically have my own identity created and slide into the system when I popped in.

"Of course not." Boss scoffed and I felt like the executioner's axe fell. "Just so you know, anything you say right now will be recorded and held against you in court so I suggest you better not run you mouth as you'd like." she warned.

My mouth slammed shut and my mind started churning for possible loopholes in what Boss had said. But instead of an oh so eloquent and witty response from my brain that would no doubt cause the people in the vicinity to facepalm or sigh in expiration, It decided that it would be funny and gave me one that would no doubt cause a blushing redhead to whack me on the shoulder instead.

"Summer's breasts." I blurted out just as I briefly wondered if it was actually the guy down south that provided that instead of my brain.

Boss looked surprised at what I had just said because her stern and judging look she had adopted ever since she started her inquisition was temporally gone in favour staring at me incredulity. She turn to look at Summer who was busy talking into the phone and didn't heard what I've just said and look back to me, narrowing her eyes as she did so. "Except for those. You'll need to work for them." She told me, a hint of amusement in her tone.

"Damn. There goes that plan." I muttered out in genuine disappointment. Oh well, not like I was expecting it to work in the first place. Amber just tilt her head in a curious manner at our conversation, not really understanding what's being said in front of her and settled with watching us. Then her eyes wandered towards something else and I noticed that Summer was approaching us and walked up next to the green haired woman. She looking rather pleased with herself as if she had done the world a great service that only she knew of.

"I've already informed the police that we've found a missing child." She announced happily with a face that seem to be screaming 'praise me'. "They asked me if I could bring her to the station so they could identify her."

"What? I though you were going to report me as a kidnapper." I look at Summer in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Pffff." Summer suddenly place both her hands on her mouth to keep herself from laughing. Even Boss was chuckling to herself as if I had just told a very funny joke. Was it something that I've said? "You, kidnapping? Oh that's rich. As if you'd ever work up the motivation to do something so troublesome." Summer told me with a smile and giggling rather cutely. "Aunt May told me to call the police about a missing child silly. So don't go worrying you butt off like you've committed some sort of crime just for making sure Amber got something to eat and didn't get snatched off by some weirdo-" She suddenly paused as she gave me a once over. "Well, a weirder weirdo then." She added as an after thought with a shrug.

I pouted at Summer for calling me that but choose to ignored it because I'm too relieved to even care that she called me a weirdo. Apparently, I've been worrying too much about getting thrown into jail. But despite no longer feeling like I'm knee deep in shit, there's a question in my mind regarding what Summer had told me. It's about the fact that I've never heard Boss said anything about telling Summer to inform the police about a missing child.

"She did?" I asked in disbelief. "Since when? All I've heard from her was 'Summer, call the cops.'." I quoted, using my fingers to make air quotes.

"It's a girls thing." Summer simply answered cryptically, smiling smugly at me and clearly getting back at me for all those times I've been giving her cryptic answers to her questions.

What's this? Witchcraft? Does this mean the women in Remnant all knows telepathy!? Is my mind no longer a safe haven that I could retreat to just so I could get my privacy and ignore the world!? Anyway, jokes aside, I wonder how long it took for them to understand each other to that degree. They've spent years together so I really shouldn't be that surprise if they could get what they wanted to say across without really saying anything other than doing a couple of motions with either their hands or eyebrows.

"So why do we need to bring her to the station in the first place? If Amber's parents are looking for her, shouldn't the cops tell them where she is so they could come and pick her up instead?" I asked a perfectly reasonable question that may or may not have been born from my unwillingness to go out into the afternoon sun. It's like, 'too freaking hot to be out' degrees out there.

"There are many reasons for that but the main reason was because of that one time." Boss explained, as if automatically assuming that I know just what that one time she was referring to. She seem to have noticed it because I have that 'I have no idea what you're talking about' look on my face, one that she had seen plenty of times since I came here.

Boss just rolled her eyes before continuing her explanation. "Some really bored person made a fake report about finding a lost kid before. Then the parents went there only to find that they have been lied to. It happened quite a few times and now the police is being very cautious so you can't fault them for not taking any chances anymore. Side's, they still need to take your statement and stuff. I don't really know. I've never found a lost child before." Boss ended with a shrug and Summer was nodding along the whole time. But I could tell that she had no idea that something like that had happened either and is just pretending that she does so she doesn't look like she hasn't been paying attention to the news.

Heh, I suppose trolls are universal after all. Well that explains why we can't just tell Amber's parents where she is and wait for them to come get her but I couldn't help but feel that there's something more that Boss' not telling us. Oh well, maybe I'm just reading too much into it. It's not like Boss herself is involved in some shady business dealings with equally shady people right? Right?

"Well then. I suppose we still have time for some interrogation before you take the kid to the station so why don't you head towards the kitchen first while I close shop hm?" Boss suddenly asked in an oh so sweet tone as she smiled, one that never reaches her eyes. It sent shivers down my spine and I couldn't help but gulped involuntarily as the hairs on my body stood on their own.

I quickly glance at Amber, someone whom had been strangely silent during our entire conversation and found that she was missing from her spot. So that's why I haven't heard a peep from her. It looks like during our chat, she decided that she had something better to do and left.

I promptly turn around and tried to run. "I just remembered that I have something very important to do so I'm just going to go-" my words were cut off while I was trying to escape as I felt a hand grabbing onto my collar and I felt the fabric dig into my neck as it halted me from my escape.

"Oh, I'm sure you could spare a few moments to can't you?" Boss said from behind me and I was reminded of a devil collecting it's due. "Summer, take him to the back while I close down."

"Yes ma'am." Summer did a sloppy salute and marched over to take me off Boss' hands. "Come on Alex, let's get going." I heard Summer chirped happily as she got closer. "You can come along too if you want Amber." she told the little panda that had moved behind the counter at some point. Upon hearing her name being called, Amber stick her head out and I saw that she was in the process of unwrapping another candy and I sent her a disapproving stare. Amber quickly hide the goods in her hand and whistled, or at least tried to whistled, as innocently as she could but all that came out of it was her blowing air and saliva out of her mouth.

"Who's Alex?" came the question from the lady holding on to me as I find myself being passed on to the redhead like a ragdoll. I know resisting will get me nowhere so I just stayed limp as Summer grabbed onto the back of my shirt.

"The name of Mr. McSmugface here." Summer told her with a giggle as I found myself being dragged away on the floor to the kitchen and I can't help but feel a sense of déjà vu at what's happening.

"That is one weird name." Boss muttered thoughtfully.

"No it's not!" I cried out. "Alex is a perfectly normal name." I pouted as I wave my arms around and kicked my legs in the air whist being dragged on my ass like a child being put on time out.

"Oh, relax kid. I'm kidding." Boss waved me off with a light shake of her head before she noticed something that caught her attention. "Summer, there's a note stuck on you back."

"Huh? Since when was it there!?" Summer let out in surprise and quickly move her hand to her back to remove said note.

"Since Amber first latched onto your leg." I answered her question proudly, nodding to myself at the accomplishment. A flawlessly executed plan that was. Amber would first get into close proximity to the target and then do something to keep her from suspecting why she needed to get so close. Then I would draw the target's attention away and let her do her thing while the target wasn't looking. I'm rather impressed that it was actually pulled off without a hitch. Normally thing never went so well when I planned something.

Summer frantically grabbed the air around her back a few times as she tires to grab the piece of paper on her back. When she finally got it off her and hold it in front of her to read it. "Kick me." She read out before slowly turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

I smiled at her and she planted the note onto my face before dragging me away. Amber followed us all while trying to contain her laughter at the sight of me being dragged away with a paper mask.

….

…..

…...

I place down my cup onto the table after taking a sip from it. "And that's what happened." I told them, eyes scanning the room and looking over the occupants that had gathered to listen to my story. Amber was sitting at the far end with a piece of paper and crayons to keep her busy. Summer and Boss was sitting in front of me while Junior had already returned home as he had done his duty and wanted to escape before Boss gave him another job to do.

"That explained literally nothing. All you did was take a sip from that mug and said those words when we sat down. You didn't even try to explain anything." Boss pointed out, looking very unimpressed with the stunt that I've tried to pull and Summer just nodded at what she had said and Amber was busy doodling away so she didn't heard us.

Odd, usually there should be a scene break in these situation so we could just skip the entire exposition thingy. But it looks like that's nothing like that in real life and I'd really have to explain it to them.

Aww man, I really wish life was a video game and that there's a skip cutscene button somewhere.

 **-0-**

 **End of Chapter**

 **-0-**

 **AN: Hey guys. Thanks for reading. Originally it's suppose to be longer and more things were suppose to be in it like Summer teaching Amber how to do things properly or meeting one of the canon characters.**

 **I've originally planned that Alex would meet one canon character each chapter so that everyone would know who he is by the time the canon rolls around but then I remembered that he had years before that happened so I left the meeting canon character part to the next chapter.**

 **Then my motivation to write suddenly started flying all over the place and things got delayed a lot. I left even a lot of things out, rushed in a lot of places and well, you get the idea. There's lots of plot holes to find and things that don't make sense that's for sure.**

 **I'm sorry for the low quality of this chapter and I do hope you'd forgive me for that.**

 **I promise to get on with the plot properly instead of dragging it on for no reason on the next chapter so you'd have something to look forward to at least….as soon as I figure out whether I should write the next chapter for The Unseen Guardian or Subject Zero first.**

 **Yeah… planning ahead has never been my forte.**


	4. Returning the Mascot home

**AN: I totally forgot this story existed. Whoopsie daisy.**

 **Since that you're already here, I'd like to take the time to apologize for this mess of a chapter that you're about to read.**

 **I tried to get this out within a week or two after my last upload but it ended up taking three whole months instead. I had a lot in my mind during the entire time I was writing so I kind just rushed this chapter out so I can get on with dealing with something else. I also haven't been getting proper sleep these past few months so my mind isn't working at full efficiency. There's also the fact that my motivation to write has been at all time low lately so expect quality to be bad.**

 **Can I ask a favor though? Can you guys help point the mistakes and what doesn't make sense in this chapter? I'll try to fix them at a later date when I'm is feeling more pumped up and ready to write. Gods know I'm going to belch really bad when I read back to this mess of a chapter.**

 **Anyway, with all that out of the way… Do enjoy and please, try not to be offended by the glaring flaws of logic, plot holes and untrue lore in this chapter. You'll enjoy it more if you do… I hope.**

 **-0-**

 **Chapter 4: Returning the Mascot home**

 **-0-**

"And that's what happened." I concluded my explanation with a nod, placing down the mug in my hand after taking a sip from it. I turn to look at the two sitting across me to gauge their reaction to my story of how I managed to acquire a minio- I mean helper.

Summer is having trouble believing me as I have predicted, looking at me with the usual look of disbelief whenever she heard that I have done something incredibly stupid or once thought to be impossible. I'm feeling slightly disappointed as she should've known better by now. Hmm, maybe I'm just not trying hard enough.

Miss Oliver however, just looked utterly unimpressed, already used to my antics after living with me for three months straight.

Panda girl had gotten bored at some point and was napping on the table, emitting small snores as she mumble incomprehensible words in her sleep. I suspect it has something to do with sweets due to the happy smile on her face and how she drools.

"You're paying her with your own pocket money." May finally said after a period of silence.

"What!?" I let out incredulously, loud enough to jerk Amber awake as she shot up with a dazed look on her face. She started looking around the place in confusion as her groggy mind hasn't register where she is yet. "There's no way I can do that, I'm broke already."

"Not exactly..." May told me cryptically, causing me to narrow my eyebrows in confusion. What does she mean by that? I'm pretty sure I've spent the last of my savings on my Scroll.

But I didn't have spend much time guessing just what my boss meant as she slowly took out a brown envelop from under the table and my eyes grew wide when I saw it.

Since I don't have a bank account for obvious reasons, I've been receiving my paycheck the old fashion way. My money is usually handed to me (after being deducted to pay for Summer's debt) in cold, hard cash. Cash that's usually stored inside an envelope that looks just like the one on May's hand.

"Is that..."

"Yep." The older woman answered with a smirk.

"But it's not even payday yet." My eyes were glued to the envelope like it's the only thing that matters in this world. Truth be told, it probably is.

"Well, I thought an advance pay couldn't hurt since you were working so hard… but now though..." She trailed off before handing the envelope over towards Amber who's sitting by her side. "Here you go kiddo, it's yours now."

"Ooooo, what's this?" The curious girl said as her arms reach out to take it.

"Nooooooooo!" I shouted as I sprung from my seat to grab what's suppose to get me through the month.

I slid across the table to reach my target with my arms stretch out in hopes to grab it before Amber can. But my effort was for naught as the little demon was too fast and snatched the envelope from Miss Oliver's hand in a blink of an eye. I have no doubt in my mind that she was utilizing the same kind of speed she would when she's snatching sweets from my hands.

Because of Amber's quick hands, all I managed to grab onto was the empty space where the envelope once was and my sliding came to an abrupt halt when I reached the end of the table. Needless to say, I fell off the table like anyone would and greeted my good old buddy with my face. You know, I used to kiss the floor a whole lot less when I was back home now that I think about it.

"My money!" I sobbed pitifully while on the ground, hand reaching out towards the envelope as Amber tore it open to see what's inside.

"Wow~" Amber let out in awe as the stack of lien was revealed. There's at least a few hundred lien in there. Think of all the things I could buy with that amount. I could've bought at least a fancy top hat with that, maybe even a classy monocle if I really wanted to. I don't know what I'm going to do with them but who cares! They're classy! "Can I really have it?" She asked hesitantly in a way any child would when they're unsure of whether or not they should take something.

"N-urgk!" I let out as I felt something stomped onto my back just as I was about to say something. I turn my head around to see Boss' foot has found it's way there to silence me.

"Oh course little girl. You sure worked hard today so this is your reward." May simply answered with a cheeky smile as she look at how the girl brightens at her response.

"Boss, you can't be seriously giving her all that money!? She's like, six or something. Can she even be entrusted with that amount? Besides, I need it more than her." I cried out in tears.

"Well, I know she can be more responsible than you in a lot of ways. But, just in case...hey kid." May called the child to get her attention. "When you get home, give the cash to your mum for safekeeping alright? You can spent it when you're older."

"Okay~" Amber agreed easily while nodding energetically.

"See, no problem there. You know, if you control your reckless spending a bit more, you wouldn't be so broke right now." She told me as she lifted her foot from my back.

"It's not reckless! Everything I bought was calculated beforehand according to the budget I have." I defended myself as I got up.

"Then why are you broke?" She asked curiously.

"I'm bad at math!" I replied seriously.

"...I see." Boss' reply was a perfect deadpan.

"That explained some things at least." Summer muttered from the side.

"Maybe I should leave Summer in charge of your allowance form here on out?" May suggested.

"She's going to spent my money on cookies instead!" I said as I point a finger at the aforementioned girl.

"No I'm not! I'm clearly more responsible than you since you're the one who bought the fake mustache for no reason." Summer replied, peeved that I thought so little of her self control as well as mentioning the 50 lien fake mustache that I bought last month.

"It's very fancy looking! Who knows when it might be useful one day. It could even be use as a disguise if need be." It's also going to fit with the top hat that I wanted to buy. "Besides, you're the one who stuck it on my face in the first place."

"Only because I thought you'd look ridiculous with it and you did. I never said you have to buy it."

"Alright, alright, can it you two. If you two keep this up we'll be here until midnight. This is punishment for doing something so stupid so suck it up and deal with it like a man. Anyway, how long has it been since you found her?" Boss clap her hands together to get our attention before asking me.

I look over towards the clock hanging on the wall before turning back to her. "Probably two hours, give or take a few minutes."

With a sigh, the older woman pushes herself up from the chair with a tired look on her face, probably because she have to deal with me on a daily basis, before she regarded me seriously. "I think it's best if you head out now rather than wasting time here. Who knows how worried her parents are right now, so the sooner you return her to them the better." May turn her gaze to the redhead in the group. "Summer, go with him so that he doesn't get mistaken as a pedophile while he's out with Amber."

"Hey!" I cried out indignantly as Summer snickers.

"And you, change into something more appropriate before you head out." May said as she pointed a finger at my direction.

I look down at the uniform that I'm wearing before looking back with a curiously raised eyebrow. "Why? What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?"

She just gave me a flat stare that seem to convey her annoyance in the topic very well. "Well, there's nothing wrong if you want to hand wash whatever stain you managed to get on it when you head out."

I conceded with a pout when I realise that she has a point. Stuff just doesn't wash off white easily and my uniform consist of 60% white. Then again, my only other set of clothes is a white shirt as well so regardless of which one I wear outside, one of them is going to get dirty and I'd have to wash them. "Aww man, today is just not my day." I complained dejectedly as I started walking away to get changed, eyeing the panda girl that's happily playing with my money by folding it into weird shapes instead of treating it like a precious resource. Then again, she's only a kid. What do they know about the value of money.

It's very painful to watch so I quickly look away and shamble towards my room with a gloomy air surrounding me.

"Now that I think about it, this is probably going to be my first time seeing him in something else other than his uniform." I heard Summer said as I made my way upstairs. They were talking loud enough that I had no trouble hearing them at all.

"Well, don't get your hopes up on seeing him well dressed. The boy's got the most horrid fashion sense in the history of Remnant. He basically just slap on anything he could find to wear. Now that I think about it, I don't think he owns any other clothes other than the uniform and that one set he showed up at my doorsteps with."

"Then what does he wear if both sets are being washed?" I heard the redhead ask curiously.

"I dunno. Probably prance around naked for all I know."

"It's called being free! Besides, I wouldn't have to do that if you didn't throw my other set of clothing into the washing machine! You know I don't have a lot to wear in the first place." I shouted down the stairs.

"It's called exhibitionism and you should be ashamed of yourself. I know I said made yourself at home when you first came in but aren't you making yourself too at home? Side's, you could've bought new clothes with your paycheck if you didn't buy that box of Dust instead. What are you even going to do with it in the first place? You don't even have thing to use with it." May shouted back.

"Well I thought it was a brand of drugs that goes by the name Dust! How was I suppose to know that it's actually some kind of weird magical all purpose battery. Side's, the box looks great on that empty shelf in my room. Also, don't knock it unless you've tried it."

"I've done it long before you were even born brat!"

"Then you should know how it feels!"

"Of course I do, but that doesn't mean I approve of it when someone else is doing it. Go get changed already, you're wasting daylight!"

"You're no fair!" I paused as a stray thought came to mind. I wondered whether or not Amber's clothes have dried yet so she can change back to them before we leave. Can't have the girl wandering around in the streets in a panda suit now can I?

….Or can I?

Hmmm. Well, I could but the ladies would surely reject that idea.

"And tell Summer to go check if Amber's clothes have dried yet." I gave one last shout before I retreat to my room in order to change. All the shouting I did with Boss was really fun. It kinda reminds me of home where all of my family members have to communicate via shouting because of all the noise going on in the house. Good times really, good times.

"Do you two really talk like this all the time?" I heard Summer's voice asked in curiosity and her voice is fainter than before as I'm rapidly approaching my room.

"What? The shouting? Only when there's a fair distance between us." I heard May said as I open the door to my room and entered.

"No, I meant-" I close the door behind me and their voices were completely snuffed out. Oh well, whatever it is that those ladies are talking about, I'm sure it's just boring girl stuff so I won't bother leaving the door ajar just so I can eavesdrop on them.

And so, I set forth to do what I came here to do.

 **-0-**

"I can't believe this." I muttered as I trail after Summer and Amber sulkily as they march on ahead of me in a great mood. The girls are currently chatting about various topics that I have no interest in and we're currently in the middle of the bustling street of Vale, en route to the nearest police station. Amber had already changed out of her panda suit and was back to wearing her dress while I switched out my uniform into my casual wear which also serves as my pajamas.

Anyway, the reason why I'm sulky right now was because of a particular piece of news that I received when I went downstairs after changing. News regarding my allowance to be exact.

Boss decided that Summer should be the one in charge of my spendings from now on and thus, I'm only allowed to buy something if I asked Summer about it and if she deemed it useful. It's my money for god sake! I've earned it myself so I have full rights to use it however I please.

I gave a defeated sigh as I realize that my situation is quite my own fault and I have no way to argue with the ladies for many reasons. One of them is that they're doing it for my sake and the other is that they're very scary when they want to be.

I slowly look over to the girls to see what they were doing right now.

"And just when I was about to sleep, I saw a bright glowy ball floating in through my window. I was scared at first but it just looked so pretty that I forgot to scream. Then it just came closer and closer and I reach out my hand to touched it and it vanished! Then I get this weird tingly feeling all over my body and then-" Amber was telling Summer some kind of story or something as they walked. I don't really know what they were talking about since I wasn't paying much attention to them and was lamenting about my money problem. There's also the fact that she talks very fast and I'm having trouble catching up with what's being said.

"Woah woah woah Amber, slow down before you get brain aneurysm." I told her as I walk up to them instead of lingering behind.

"Brain annuereeeessmm?" Amber echoed in confusion. "What's that?"

"Hmmm. It's something that causes your head to explode." I lied and was rewarded with a horrified look from the child. Needless to say, I took great pleasure in that and it had nothing to do with the fact that she is now richer than me because she was given my allowance. Honest.

And of course, my enjoyment was cut short when someone slapped me at the back of my head that almost made me fall to my face if I didn't recover fast enough.

"Ow! Summer, what gives?" I complained as I rub the sore spot on my scalp, give the redhead a pouty look as she look at me with an unamused face.

"Gee I dunno, maybe I'm just trying to stop you from give a kid nightmares you jerk. She's still at a very impressionable age and she might take everything you say seriously. If you're not careful who knows what she'll end up believing." She deadpanned before turning to Amber. "Don't listen to him Amber, he's just kidding."

"You mean like how you were before you met me?" I quipped with a smirk and got a swat on my shoulder in response. "Ow! Shutting up now." I quickly raise my hands in the air in a gesture of surrender and Summer just gave me a smug smile before telling Amber what aneurysm really meant.

Methinks that Summer is learning how to properly deal with me already.

And just like that, we continue onward towards our destination, chatting or messing with each other along the way. I'd like to say that we've encountered no problems during the trip to the police station and the journey there was smooth sailing but we all know that it would be bullshit.

Our trip there is taking way long than it should be mainly because we encountered some kind of distraction. A lot of distractions actually. Distractions in the form of sidequests that one would usually get when traveling around in an open world RPG.

Anyway, when we reached the market area that we needed to pass through to reach the station, we met a bunch of ladies along our way who needed help with trivial tasks. Things like carrying things for them or helping them find what they're looking for. The usual delivery quests and the likes.

I suspect that reaching the police station will take quite some time as we're still doing those things right now even after a whole hour has passed.

"You don't have to stop and help every single one you met along the way you know." Summer said in an amused tone besides me as she held onto a cardboard box. Amber was carrying a smaller box that's perfect for someone her size. All three of us were in front of a general store that sells miscellaneous, everyday things.

"And you didn't have to help me while I'm helping them and you could've stop me from doing so in the first place but didn't. Besides, they asked for help first and you know I have trouble saying no to people who needed help. Is here fine?" The last part was directed at the old woman who had asked us to transport some supplies to her store so she could sell them. Her age has been catching up to her so she's having a hard time moving all of them like she used to.

"Yes. Thank you very much for you help as always deary. You have no idea how much of a godsend you all are for this old fossil." The old woman told us with a warm smile as she pat her back for emphasis and we set the things down in front of her shop. We've been here enough times to know that her shop assistant would come and collect the boxes for her and restock her shelves.

"And you worked hard as well little girl." The old woman told Amber she pat her on her head, causing the child to smile brightly at the praise she had just received. "Wait right here while I go get something for you okay?" The old lady said before she entered her shop.

"Hmm, maybe I just like helping people. I wouldn't mind lending a hand if they asked." Summer answered me.

"What a coincidence, me too." I replied.

"Me three~" Amber chimed in with a giggle.

"Yes, yes. You did a good job Amber. How very nice of you to help someone when they're in trouble. Remember that it's never a bad thing to help someone in need...unless they're the bad guys of course." I praised her as I copied what the old lady did by patting her on her head and she smiled happily. You can't go wrong with showing a child with praises after all. It really helps build up their self-esteem and confidence.

"I thought it was your dream to be the master of being lazy or something." Summer giggled.

"Of course it is. Sadly, I was raised better than be a useless bum who can't get anything done by himself. And besides, we're setting a good example for the kid." I gestured at Amber who was waiting eagerly for whatever reward the old lady had in mind, eyes never leaving the shop entrance.

"I still remember how it all first started out three months ago you know. There was an old lady in the middle of the road who seem to be in a pickle. I was very surprised when you suddenly when ahead and offer to help her just like that. Why though? For someone like you, I'd expect you'd ignore her completely like she doesn't exist."

"Well, they were blocking the way; I want to reach my destination faster and I can't very well just push them out of the way now can I?" I explained to her my reason for doing so.

"You could just walk around them you know." Summer helpfully pointed out.

"Eh, too lazy. It's easier for me this way." For my conscience that is.

"Yeah, suuureee." Summer said with a knowing smile while not pointing out the fact that by doing so, I'll only create more work for myself. Suddenly, her smile turn into a worried frown. "You're going to be taken advantage of one day you know?" Summer told me with a hint of concern in her voice. D'awwww, she's worried about me.

"I know, I know; but I can't do anything about my instinctive needs to help others when they're in trouble ya know. it's one of the many reasons why I don't like heading outside." I told her as I let out a sad and dramatic sigh. Damn you quarter Canadian blood. If only you didn't exist in my veins then my dream of being the master of laziness would come true a lot easier.

"I thought the only reason why you hated going outdoors was because you'll be forced to be our pack mule." Summer giggled. "Either way, we seem to be getting rather popular around this area, probably thanks to you always being a good samaritan. There seem to be an increase of people asking us for help nowadays as well... I also can't help but notice that most of them are women."

"What can I say, I'm popular with the ladies." I gave a haughty laugh as I cross my arms in front of my chest and puff them out proudly.

"Yeah, only the old ones." Summer snickers into her hand as she reminded me of a very crucial fact that I've overlooked or at least pretended not to notice.

Her words stabbed me through the heart like a sharp blade and my good mood instantly evaporated. I let my shoulders slouch and turn my gaze to the ground as I sobbed pitifully. "Yes, only the old ones." My words caused her to laugh in amusement at my misfortune. Like she had said, only the old ladies ever approach me for help and never the young and beautiful ones. Apparently, they all said I'm like the kind, honest grandchild that they have or never had that made me so approachable.

"Sorry for the wait." We heard the voice of the old lady we helped and I raise my head just in time to see her exiting her shop with something in her hands. Amber saw it and she started to jump excitedly on her spot with stars in her eyes.

As for what it is, you can probably guess judging by how Amber is acting.

"Yay~ sweets! Gimme gimme gimme." Amber extended her hands greedily as her eyes never left the small bag of sweets the size of a baseball in the old lady's hands. The old woman only offer an amused smile at the child's rude behavior while I on the other hand, only offered a light karate chop to the head. "Owie!" Amber cried out, her hands went to cover her head to protect it from further assault as she turn to pout at me.

"Amber, manners." I told her with a warning tone, making the young girl flinch before looking guilty at how she was behaving.

"Sorry." She muttered apologetically to the old woman with her head bowed down.

The old lady just showed a grandmotherly smile as reach out her hand and took Amber's, placing the bag of sweets in her palm before ruffling her hair playfully. "Now, now, she's just a child. There's no need to be so strict with her." She told me as Amber just hug the small bag happily.

"I'd rather she doesn't grow up into a rude delinquent who just takes things from others." I said before fixing my gaze on Amber. "What are you suppose to say when some one gives you something?" I asked her gently.

"Thank you." She told the old lady with her brightest smile that could quite possible melt an ice queen's heart.

After that we bid out goodbyes and left the general store. I had to stop Amber from plopping the sweet into her mouth once the old lady was out of sight but other than that, there's nothing interesting going on… at least for two whole meters anyway.

Due to my uncontrollable impulses, we ended up helping even more people along the way and what should be a half hour walk to the station took far longer than it should.

"Sorry for troubling you two with this." I apologized, feeling ashamed for myself for being unable to fight against my urges to help people and dragging others into my whims again.

"It's alright, it's kinda fun." Amber reassured me with that ever so lovable smile of hers. Amber's great mood might be because those old ladies kept giving her sweets for being such a kind and helpful child. Sweets that I no doubt she would eat the moment she gets home. They were all placed inside that fat looking plastic bag in her hands that we had to get her because she needed something bigger to store all her rewards. You can pretty much tell that there's a lot in there judging by the bulge from the bag.

"Plus, there's a lot of free stuffs too." Summer chimed in, both hands carrying bags filled with meat and vegetables and other goodies given to us from those we've helped prior. I look down to my hands to see bags of free groceries that I got as well and could only offer a wry laugh. Those people are really kind. You don't get this kind of generosity back on earth just because you help them out a few times….or it might be because we brought Amber along, whose cuteness just makes the old ladies want to shower her with stuffs to please her.

Hmm, that notion might be wrong as they have been giving me free stuffs long before I met Amber. Now that I think about it, this world has people that's a mixture of humans and animals right? Then what kind of meat have I been eating for the past three months? The meat that I've seen in the markets are all already processed or cut into pieces ready to be washed and cooked so I don't really know. They all tasted like chicken so I never really thought of it that much until now….

I think that it's best that I don't know, ignorance is bliss after all. Oh well, at least I know we have a lot of options for what to make for Dinner tonight.

"Well, we should be clear of the market area after this so the chances of encountering someone who needed help should drastically decrease." I told them. "I'm sure you can't wait to get back to your mother right Amber?" I asked the child and she nodded happily.

"Yes! There's so much I wanted to tell mama after what happened today. I made new friends, got to wear a cute panda costume, got a lot of sweets to eat-" And she just drones on and on about the things that happened to her today which I mostly stopped paying attention to by the time she reached her third sentence. Due to that, I managed to spot someone over at the distance who seem to be oddly familiar to me as we walked.

"Huh, just who's that over ther-" I muttered to myself but trailed off when I finally get a good look at who it was.

I instantly cursed my luck as it was someone who I'm incredibly familiar with.

I'm not familiar with that person because we met plenty of times before. In fact, I've only saw that person once. But that one time was enough to engrave her face into my memory like someone carving an image into a stone slab.

It's Miss Saggy Tits!

That old lady in front of us is none other than the one from that strip club that I've entered before.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. What do I do? What do I do? What am I suppose to do when you met someone you never wanted to see ever again in your life!? Take another route? No, everywhere else seem to have someone there, conveniently blocking the road like this encounter is scripted by some nefarious god. The only possible way to continue on is through that open path that the old lady is in.

Greet her? Fuck no, that's a stupid idea and I still have nightmares from that time. I don't need anymore nightmare fuel and talking to her might just strengthen the image that I already have in my head. God damn it! I was so close to forgetting her too.

Okay, okay, calm down and think. Is there any possible chance that she could have seen my face when I entered the strip club? Impossible, there was simply too many people in there at that time so I shouldn't have to worry about her recognizing me. I'm probably just another random dude in the middle of the busy street.

Oh wait, there's a simple solution to everything, all I have to do is pretend I that didn't see her. Genius! Let's just calmly walk past her and pretend that nothing is wrong and avoid eye contact at all cost! Gotta act natural like I don't know that she actually works as a stripper in some shady club.

I immediately kept my head low and tried to keep a small profile so the old woman wouldn't pick me out from the crowd. Then I hasten my pace to follow behind the girls, using them as a shield to block me from the old woman's sight. The girls didn't seem to nice my sudden change in behavior while I kept my eyes on anything but those sagging tits of that old woman as we walk past her.

I saw the old woman's silhouette move past me from the corner of my eye and tensed slightly because my skin just crawled when I felt her presence so close to me. But I managed to keep on walking without doing anything attention grabbing.

Did-did it actually worked?

Does she not recognize me? Thank God! For a moment there, I was expecting the worst, especially since I got so close to her. Thank fucking god for small mira-

My thoughts came to an abrupt halt when I felt someone's hand slap me on my rear. I froze on the stop, my body tensed as a bowstring as a wave of panic and confusion shot through my heart. I slowly turn my head around to see what had just slapped my ass and my heart dropped to my stomach as I was face to face with the very person I was trying so hard to avoid.

She gave me a wink before giving my butt a tight squeeze before letting go, swaying those old and fat as fuck hips of hers as she left.

….

I think something in me just died.

She knows doesn't she?

God, why hast thou forsake me once more?

The only good thing is that Summer and Amber didn't saw what happened because they went on ahead.

Oh god, I can still feel her hands caressing my rear even though she's not there anymore. My entire body has on high alert for any more potential gropers while I'm starting to feel some kind of revolting fear and disgust surging from my stomach that strongly urges me to puke out my lunch. Worst part is, the memory of her groping me kept playing back in my mind like a nightmare on repeat.

Someone save me from it! I need a memory purge of that event and I need it now!

 **[Affirmative. Orders received, initiating memory purge. Targeted memory: Two minutes prior until present.]**

Oh great, there that voice that I've been trying to ignore for quite some time now. Why am I even hearing it in the first place anyway? Am I being possessed by some kind of lingering spirit? Have I offended someone in my past life to deserve suc-

 **[Memory purged.]**

-they all tasted like chicken so I never really thought of... Wait a fucking minute. Where am I? I was pretty sure that I was walking along with Summer and Amber along a crowd but where are- Oh, there they are. I can see Summer's signature white cloak fluttering in wind among the crowd in the distance. When did the get so far away from me? Hmm odd, I seem to have spaced out again for no reason.

Things like this keep happening a lot lately and it's starting to worry me a little, not to mention the strange emotion suppression thing that kept happening form time to time. There's also this faint trace of panic that's rapidly vanishing from my chest and I have no clue what could be the cause. It's almost like I forced myself to forget what caused it in the first place. It's not like I keep witnessing jarring events that caused me to drank an amnesia potion every time to forget them now did I? Did I? Anyway, with all these add together, I'm really not sure if my mental health is at it's best of state right now.

When I was busy standing there and contemplating the state of my mind, someone bumped into my shoulder rather rudely with enough force to make me stumble.

"Hey, watch it!" The person that bumped into me said as he walks away.

I turn around to see who it was and saw the retreating back of a teen with orange hair that's dressed in some fine clothing. For some reason, I can't help but imagine him wearing a bowler hat. Odd right?

Oh and by the way, I managed to barely feel his hand entering my pocket as he knocked into me due to my skin being oddly sensitive for no apparent reason. He would've succeeded in pickpocketing me without me noticing if it weren't for that. It's like my entire body is on red alert and I can't figure out what caused it to be this way.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the guy just now took my wallet but just in case I was wrong, I decided to check. I moved my hands down to pat my pockets to confirm whether or not my wallet's still there. Predictably, it's not and is most likely in that guy's possession. I just sigh and scratch the back of my head while I ponder whether if it's worth the effort to chase him down to get it back. I turn my gaze to where I last saw the male but he was already no where in sight.

Seeing that there's probably no chance of me finding him in this kind of crowd, I choose to forget it. There's no loss there since my wallet is empty and due to...circumstances.

Crap, no time to think about my empty wallet for now, I need to catch up with Summer and Amber before I lost sight of them as well and undoubtedly get lost while trying to find my way back again.

 **-0-**

After I managed to catch up to Summer and Amber, I kept the fact that I lost my wallet to myself mainly because it's just not worth making a fuzz over the empty thing.

"Hey wait." Summer suddenly called out to me worriedly and I stopped walking immediately. The panic in her voice caught my interest so I quickly turn around to see what's up.

"What?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Summer looked around the place before she turn to me, face filled with alarm. "Where's Amber?" She asked with dread in her voice and my eyes widen in realization as I finally noticed that it has been oddly quite recently.

I quickly look down to see if the child was around but like Summer had implied, she's not. Panic erupted within me as I realized that we've just lost the very person we were suppose to be looking after. My entire body tensed up and I was about to do a mad scramble to search for her before Summer spoke up again that made me trip on my feet.

"Oh wait, there she is." Summer voiced out in relief as she pointed her finger towards the way that we came from. I looked over there and easily spotted the figure of the little brown haired girl. She was standing near a stall with her eyes glued at the man working behind it. To be more specific, she was looking at the cone of ice-cream he was giving out to his customers.

I let out a sigh of relief as the tension my body while Summer quickly made her way over towards the kid. Jesus Christ woman, don't play with my feelings like that.

"Amber, why did you wander off on your own like that?" I heard Summer asked worriedly as I started walking towards them at my own pace.

"Ah, big sis. Well- this- I-" The young girl stumbled with a look of guilt as she look between Summer and me.

I just smirked because I know what it is that caused her to wander off like that. It's not that hard since the answer is like, literally in front of us. The girl is as gluttonous as ever I tell you. "Let me guess, you want ice-creamed." I helpfully supplied and Amber just nodded as she look to the ground sheepishly.

"Really?" Summer said as she look at the store herself, letting out a thoughtful hum as her eyes gaze towards the sign that was put up in front of the stall. It showed how many flavors there were and the price. "Hmmmm, well, I suppose some ice-cream couldn't hurt before we reached the station." At Summer's words, Amber immediately brighten up at the prospect of more treats for her insatiable sweet tooth. I have no doubt that she's already imaging what kind of ice-cream she wants to eat to smother her sweet tooth to death with.

"Let me guess, I'm paying right?" I deadpanned.

"Of course you are. What kind of guy lets a girl pay for things herself?" Summer turn to me in feigned shock as she place her hands over her chest to make it seem as if she had been deeply surprised by what I said. It would've been convincing if the edges of her lips didn't kept tugging upwards and how hard she was trying not to giggle.

"The kind that had all his money handed to a child because he was deemed too irresponsible for it." I replied flatly.

Summer just blinked at how upfront I was before seemingly realizing that what I said was quite true. "Oh… right, that's quite true." She nodded in agreement before tilting her head to the side as she hums thoughtfully again while rubbing her chin. "I suppose there's no choice then. I'll pay the ice-cream for you this time but you'll owe me got it?"

"Are you talking to me or Amber?" I asked.

"You, duh." she stated a matter-of-factly.

"But I never said I wanted ice-cream." I protested, thinking that Summer's being very childish right now.

"Three cones of ice-creams please, one strawberry for me." Summer ignored me as she went to order, getting a nod from the man behind the stall before turning to me with an amused smile. "Oops, too late. So, what flavor do you two want?"

"Chocolate!" Amber cried out in cheer.

"Can I cancel mine?" I asked hopefully because I know that she'll probably demand something from me that requires a lot of work if I owe her.

"Nope." she answers cheerfully with a glint of mischief flashing through those silver eyes of her. I suspect that she probably had planned on getting me to owe her for a long time now, that little she-devil. She probably wanted me to make that butterscotch cookie that she really wanted to try again but I never got around to making them because I was too lazy. Oh well, considering all the suffering that I had put her through these past months, I suppose I do have to pay her back somehow. This is a good start I guess.

"Fine...I'll take vanilla." I told her with a defeated sigh. Summer simply gave a victorious smile upon hearing my choice before turning back to the stall owner who had already scooped up two cones of ice-cream for the girls. Amber had already reached out and grabbed hers while Summer tried to reach her wallet in her skirt pocket but the bags in her hand got in her way.

"Alex, help me hold my bags for a bit?" She asked me while holding the bags of groceries at my direction. I opened my mouth to speak but was immediately cut off by her before I could get a word in. "And no, holding onto my groceries doesn't count as paying me back just in case you're wondering." I shut my mouth and started sulking while wondering how is it that she knew what I was going to say before I said it.

I reach out my hand to take her bags while pouting at her, something that she ignored with ease because I don't have the natural cuteness that she or any cute creature possesses. With the bags passed onto me, I can easily feel the weight in my hands increased drastically. "Thanks a lot Jerkface." She thanked me playfully, earning a light giggle from the little girl with chocolate stained lips so I turn to pout at her instead, causing her to laugh at the funny face that I'm making.

Summer turn back to the stall owner and took out her wallet to pay him. As the stall owner took the cash while Summer took the goods, I got the distinctive feeling somewhere in my gut that's telling me that something bad was going to happen.

 **[Warning: Human shaped projectile currently en route to your position. Recommendation: Move.]**

The voice in my head seem to agree as well. Weird.

Any further thoughts on that manner were interrupted when a blur slammed into me with the force of a speeding car. Pain immediately assaulted my sides and I was lifted off my feet with ease. I quickly found myself on the ground, something that's been happening very frequently lately as I've mentioned before and the bags of groceries that was in my hands were sprawl on the ground since I instinctively let go of them when I was hit. I can hear Amber letting out a frightened squeak as well as a surprised 'woah' coming from summer after I landed and I can see stars floating around me.

I groaned and shook my head in attempt to get rid of the dizziness that I got from the sudden impact and landing. I tried to get up to see what hit me but I soon realized that I can't move my hands at all. In fact, I can't seem to move my entire torso as well.

Looking back, I found that the person that ran into me had held my hands firmly behind my back by the wrist to keep it locked in place. I can't see that person's face from my position but their intent to keep me from going anywhere is very clear. Also, whoever is sitting on me is very heavy and I think my spine just creaked from the weight.

Okay, what's going on here!?

I don't remember doing anything to warrant being held down like a criminal like this!….okay, maybe there are a few things that I did here and there but I'm sure no one saw me.

Okay, think calmly. I suppose this means that whoever crashed into me did so on purpose and they're not just holding me down because it's their fetish of sorts. It guess this also explained why I could feel someone's hand grab onto my shirt while I was in midair and spun me around while I was falling so I would land on my stomach.

"Alright punk, you're under arrests." I heard a woman's voice telling me as I winch in pain because she tighten her grip on my wrist. It was then did my mind supplied me with the notion that it might just be an adult on my back and they might be a police officer.

Okay seriously, what did I do!? Just what on earth did past me do to get me in this mess! I don't wanna go to jail for crying out loud! I heard that your butt hole would get bigger there when you bend over to pick up the soap that you dropped. I bet they even have some weird occult rituals for joining their gangs that involve brushing your teeth and then downing a jar of orange juice.

Hell, they might even force you to wear a sock and a shoe and a sock and shoe in that order. What kind of sociopath would put on a sock, shoe, sock, shoe! Don't they know that the whole world puts on a sock and a sock and a shoe and a shoe?

And of course, three seconds into my frantic panic, my emotions was instantly clamped down so and I can think clearly again.

Wow, did I really thought of all that just before? Man, my brain really goes to weird places when I'm panicking. "What for?" I asked as politely as I could so I won't accidentally push any of the officer's buttons while silently praying for a miracle to get me out of this mess. Ugh, I can taste dirt in my mouth. I really want to spit it out but I'm afraid the woman on top of me might not take it that well. I also noticed that we seem to have gathered a crowd all of a sudden.

Not all that surprising since I'm being arrested in the middle of a street.

"Don't play dumb with me, I'm sure you know full well of the crime that you've committed." She told me in a rather annoyed tone.

Not really getting what kind of crime she was pointing at, I decided to try guessing instead. "Was it because I ripped off the tag of a mattress that one time?" I offered helpfully.

"What? No! I'm taking about the kid that you kidnapped."

"Kidnapped? Oh, you mean her?" I jerked my chin towards Amber's direction. I noticed that she was staring at me wide-eyed in shock at what's happening before turning around to tug at Summer's sleeve to get the redhead's attention. Summer on the other hand, looks like she's seriously debating whether or not she wants to pretend that she doesn't know me.

"Yes. I'm not sure if you're either really brave for walking around in broad daylight with her in tow or just plain stupid. But either way, whatever you have planned for her is not going to come into fruition because you're going to be spending a long time behind bars." The woman who was mounting me told me.

"The big lady is a Huntress right? Is big bro a bad person!? Is that why the Huntress is sending him to jail?" Amber ask Summer in worry.

"I'm very tempted to say yes but that would most likely make you sad so no, jerkface is not a bad person...-ish. He'll be fine once the Huntress realized that he didn't kidnap you. Anyway, I better help him out before he digs himself a deeper grave. You know how he likes to run that mouth of his." Summer replied with a tired sigh before stepping forward towards me and the woman, getting both our attention as she got nearer.

"Hey miss Robin." Summer cheerfully greeted the woman and we both stare at her in surprise, each for our own reasons. I'm surprise that Summer actually knew this woman while said person on the other hand was probably not expecting her name to be called at all.

"Oh hey! Summer! What a coincidence, what are you doing here." The woman greeted back and I'm left in a very awkward position as well as very confused at what's going on right now. At least I can deduct from this that they know each other pretty well to be able to talk with such familiarity.

"Well, I was getting ice-cream for my friends before you suddenly showed up out of the blue." Summer hold up the two cones of ice-cream in her hands for the woman to see.

"Ah, so you're here with friends. I hope you'll introduce them to me some time." The woman told her while I wondered if they actually forgot about me already before they're talking like I'm not even here.

"Well...it's kinda hard to do that when you're sitting on him right now." Summer told her and I can tell that the woman was surprised by Summer's statement. How, you asked? I can feel a surprised jerk coming from the woman on top of me.

"What!? Really!? This guy's your friend!?" The woman sounded extremely surprised by this revelation and I couldn't help but feel slightly offended.

"Yes. I'm using a very loose definition of friend here but yes. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you want to know how we have Amber in our hands but first, can you get off him? I don't think he's enjoying being sat on very much." Summer suggested with an amused smirk as she jerk her head at my direction.

"Oh..." The woman chuckled nervously before quickly letting go of my hand and getting off me. Well, at least now I can conclude that the woman, Robin, seem to trust Summer a lot to just let go of a supposed kidnapper just because she said he was her friend.

"Finally." I grumbled before I push myself up with a grunt and proceeded to dust myself off. Ugh, my shirt is dirty already even though I tried so hard not to get anything on it. I can feel my wrist stinging the entire time I was moving my hands so once I'm done dusting myself, I pull down my sleeve to check the condition of my wrist.

I was honestly not surprise to see the red hand print around it. Seesh, the women that I've met in this world are all ridiculously strong. Might have something to do with the fact that they're all trained for combat.

I noticed that while I was busy, Summer had pulled the lady away from the middle of the street so they could talk and the crowds are already dispersing. I have no doubt that stories of what happened here today will spread into countless variations due to many gossiping housewives.

Summer seem to be explaining to Robin how we came about to finding Amber and what we're doing now and I took the chance to examine Robin, getting a proper look at her for the first time since she appeared.

The woman had long light blue hair braid into a ponytail and cerulean colour eyes that reminds me of the sea. She wore a jacket the same colour as her hair with an open front that showed that she wore a gray shirt with white metallic breastplate over it. Her gray pants were loose fitting and she wore a pair of boots that matches her jacket.

The woman was undoubtedly taller than Summer which evident by how Summer hand to crank her neck upwards to meet her eyes. I can see that she has a well build body as well since her jacket hugs her frame in some area that showed some muscles and it made me feel very inadequate. Then again, I've never trained before in my life so there's no way I can fight against a Huntress in body fitness.

I don't know why but the woman would frequently look over at me while she was conversing with Summer. I want to ask why she's looking at me like that but I'm slightly deterred that big ass steampunk style sword strapped onto her back that looked like it's meant to be wield by someone twice her size. No wonder why she's so heavy when she's sitting onto my back. It also explained the muscular arms because swinging that thing around would most definitely give you some. I'm just amazed that my spine didn't snap when she sat on me.

I managed to hear some bits of what they're saying from where I'm at. I could only make out a few lines and words here and there but what really caught my attention the most was when Robin asked 'Does he know?' and Summer quickly replied with a frantic shake of her head and proceeds to say something with a desperate look on her face, earning a very thoughtful nod from Robin. Hmm, I wonder what they're talking about right now?

Curious, most curious indeed.

"Oh hey Amber, when did you get here?" I asked when I finally noticed the kid who seem to have moved to my side without me noticing. She was looking at me with a concerned look on her face while still licking at her ice-cream. It looks like sweets still takes precedence over the well being of her friend I guess.

"Is big bro okay?" She asked worriedly.

"Oh, don't worry. This much isn't enough to keep me down. I'm not that weak you know." I told her with a slight chuckle as I ruffled her hair. My wrist still stings but I managed to hide it well enough that Amber doesn't notice.

Amber seem to believe me and nodded with a smile. I smiled back before I noticed that Summer was beckoning us over towards them. Feeling curious as to why, I quickly made my way over to them and brought Amber along as well.

When we got there, Summer began a quick introduction to get us familiar with one another. "So, I think it's best if we all forget about the bad first impression that was made just before and start anew. Alex, this lady here is Robin Oliver." She gestured at the woman by her side that's waving at me with a sheepish smile. "She a Huntress that helps with the law enforcement around Vale whenever she can and is also someone that I've known for a long time. I've already told her what's going on so you don't have to worry about

"Oliver? So she's our Boss' daughter? I guess that explained how you know her but they look nothing alike." I commented as I try to compare the woman before me with the green haired boss that I have while studying her from head to toe. So far, I found nothing that could make me think of May when I look at Robin. They're just too different from one another.

"Her in law actually, She's married to her son." Summer explained and I nodded in understanding. That explained the last name. Wait, married!? She looks like she's only just graduated collage from my point of view and she's already married?

"Really? Then how come I never saw her before until now?" I asked Summer with a perplexed look, getting an uncomfortable fidget from Robin upon hearing my question.

Summer's eyes dart over towards Robin, lingering on her for a brief second before looking back to me. She surprised me by moving very close to me all of the sudden and tiptoed so that her lips would be a few centimeters away from my ear and whispers into them. "She tries to avoid going to places that would constantly reminds her of her husband. Aunt May understands how she felt as well so she doesn't blame her for not visiting often." Once she's done, she went back to her original position and try her best to look inconspicuous under Robin's grateful gaze for having explaining things for her. She's clearly not comfortable talking about it to a total stranger like me.

I just nodded in understanding.

The cafe is probably the last place she want to be at since May's son (whose name I still have no clue of) was born and raised there. "Sooooooo, you must think that our situation is weird right? It's not everyday that someone just hire a child off the street just because she had her face stuck on the window and drooling nonstop." I quickly asked Robin in hopes of changing the subject.

"Oh, It's not all that strange since I've already experienced it before. You know, your entire situation kind of reminds me of how I've met Summer for the first time. She had her face plastered onto the shop window as she drool over the cookies on the display just like Amber did." Robin told me with a faint giggle.

"Big sis Robin!" Summer cried out indignantly while her face redden to the point where her face resembles a tomato with an ahoge.

"Somehow I'm not surprise to hear that." I muttered, the mental image of Summer doing that easily came to mind.

"Hey, what's that suppose to mean?" Summer pouted cutely at me.

"Nothing, nothing at all. Say, how old are you anyway?" I blurted out the other question that had been on my mind to Robin.

"Alex, you don't just ask a lady her age, it's rude." Summer chided me playfully with a smile of amusement on her face.

"I know that but still, she look like she could be your older sister or something."

"Well, that's one of the many benefits of having your Aura unlocked. It keeps you in your prime so you can face any kind of threat without worrying about your age slowing you down. The only con to that is that you would always be the prime targets for Grimms because you're basically wearing your soul on your sleeves. But, it's also a good thing since they would focus on you while the civilians escapes." Robin explained to me enthusiastically, happy that we're changing the subject.

Huh, so that's why. I've been wondering why most of the Huntsmen and Huntress that I've seen so far look way too good for someone their age. My boss being the prime example as she's like, in her 40's or something and still looking like she's in her early 30's.

"Wow, that actually sounds pretty cool- wait, does this means that Summer is also older than she looks?" I pointed out as I slowly look towards the girl in question in slight nervousness. It would be very awkward if the girl that I've been buddy buddy with and treating like a child is actually already someone in her twenties.

"What!? NO!" Summer looked rather offended when she said that. "I'm only 15. Why would you even think that?"

"Hey, I'm only checking to be sure." I raised my arms in attempts to placate the peeved redhead that I've accidentally called old while Robin just giggled at how we're interacting with each other. "Anyway, what else does Aura do besides magically keep people young forever?" I asked the Huntress, deeply interested in the capabilities of Aura. So far, all I know is that they can act as invisible force fields for individuals, heals wounds and gives you a neat Semblance so the staying young part is a completely new info for me.

Robin's response was to look at me incredulously. "Really? You don't know? I thought they taught you the need to knows about Aura in school."

I shook my head and Summer took the chance to inform Robin something very critical when dealing with me. "I've learned that it's best to just treat him like he's been living under a rock his whole life. Makes things easier that way for everyone involved." Summer told her and I nodded along, earning a very questioning look from Robin.

After staring at us for a while to see whether or not we're joking around, she eventually shrugged and rolled with it. "Well for starters, you'll still age like anyone else so the staying young forever part is wrong. Your aging only starts to slow down a bit once you reach adulthood. Aside from that though, having my Aura unlocked also enables me to use my weapon without any repercussions." Robin reached her hand behind her and unsheathe her sword with a slick sounding 'shink'. My eyes widen when I saw that she's holding up the giant thing with just one arm. Then, with a click of a button somewhere on the handle, the entire thing transformed.

I watched in fascination as the blade folded itself in a mesmerizing fashion until it was covered by it's own hilt that expanded outward while it was folding. The entire thing started twisted and turn to the point where it's entire form doesn't resembles a sword in any way. Once it's done changing, it looked like a giant sci-fi/steampunk cannon that'll be more suitable on a futuristic tank instead of being wielded by a woman smaller than it.

Good lord, all the weapons in this world so crazy I love it.

"Any civilian who tried to use this baby here would most likely broke their arms or have them torn off when they fired it...if they can lift it up in the first place that is." She explained as she lift the heavy looking weapon up and down with ease.

"People with Aura unlocked will naturally have a bit of their strength and endurance enhanced so that they can to do things normal civvies can't. You can further strengthen yourself by training or using Aura to boost your muscles. The latter method is almost never mentioned by Huntsmen nowadays as it's very risky if you get it wrong, but it pays off if you get it right." Robin place the weapon by her side, it's barrel touching the ground while she uses the handle as something to lean her elbow on.

I just nodded as I absorb the information given to me while idly thinking that this explains how Ruby could swing that scythe of awesomeness around like it's made out of feathers. Also, there's one part that's a cause for concern that I just can't help but ask about it.

"Risky?" I asked in worry, my eyes snapping away from the gorgeous looking weapon to the person leaning on them. "I thought Aura was only suppose to keep you safe from all sorts of harm like some kind of force field or something. Heck, I never even knew it had so many functions other than that until now."

"Thats...one interesting way to put it but I suppose that's the best example we can use for now. At any rate, Aura does act like a force field but there's only so much it can protect you from so it's best not to grow too reliant on it. There are also many other ways to use Aura other than protecting yourself; you can use it in offensive manners as well. As I've mentioned before, you can use aura to further enhance your body or if you're good enough to manipulate it, you can use it to sent shock waves and many other cool tricks." Robin said as she raise a hand up and snapped her fingers together. I managed to see her hand briefly lit up like it was surrounded by a pale blue light before it instantly vanished.

"The thing I did just now is the basics for offensive Aura usage. It takes a long time of practice before one can properly manipulate their own Aura outside of their body. It takes a lot of patience and dedication to even master the basics for that, something the newer generations of Huntsmen are clearly lacking like a certain someone that I know who wanted to learn but got bored five days later and stopped showing up for practice." Robin said, eyeing Summer with narrowed eyes. The redhead actually had the decency to look sheepish and tried to avoid eye contact with the woman. "The body enhancement however, is a lot trickier and not to mention, very dangerous."

"Why?" I prompted, feeling ever so curious about why using aura to enhance yourself would be dangerous. It's like a simple power up right? What's so dangerous about that?

"Because, my young pupil, if they messed up while attempting that technique, they _will_ tear their muscles or blow up their blood vessels in whatever part of their body that they're strengthening." She told me with an air of seriousness.

"This is avtually an ancient technique used by Huntsmen from the olden age, long before trans-shift weapons were a common sight and dust were better understood and utilized. By using aura to strengthen yourself, you're basically pumping your muscles full of aura to give yourself that burst of strength to overcome a foe greater than you. Sounds simple in paper yes, but for someone inexperienced to try it means disaster is just around the corner. You just don't know how much stress your body can handle before they break down or you pumped in too much Aura to the point where your limbs pop like a balloon." During the entire time Robin was talking, she had since push herself off her weapon and had adopted a lecturing posture that reminds me of a certain twin-tailed tsundere.

Her left hand was place underneath to support her right elbow while the right arm was raise into the air with only her index finger and thumb sticking out. She was so into it that she didn't seem to be paying any attention to us anymore as she continued to lecture us. "The few veteran Huntsmen who knew of that technique almost never use it because they knew that if they did it wrong even once, it'll leave them crippled in a middle of a battle. It's as it's a high-risk, high-reward type of technique after all." Robin explained while twirling her finger that was in the air in a circle.

"That makes sense." I said, as I thought about such a scenario.

"Nowadays however, that technique never gets a mentioned because of the advancement in technology. As not many people can get it right most of the times, the technique was never really passed on and is mostly forgotten by the newer generation who tends to favor the more 'stylish' way of fighting Grimms." Robin said, using one hand to make the finger quote while using the other to turn her weapon back into a giant sword and sheathing it.

"Wait, if it's such a rarely used technique nowadays then how come you know about it?" I asked.

Summer choose this moment to speak up, quite possibly because she felt felt out of the conversation that we're having. "That's because Robin here grew up admiring how those olden Huntsmen fought to defend the world when she read about them in a book as a kid. She started frantically searching every nook and cranny in many libraries for any more information she could find about them and learned some tricks that they used here and there. Though most of the time she got hurt while trying them instead of actually pulling it off." Summer informed me with a giggle.

"I'd appreciated it if you never told him about that." Robin commented wryly.

"Oops. Tee hee." Summer let out as she tilt her head sideways with her tongue slightly sticking out of her mouth in a cutesy manner. "My bad."

"This is payback for talking about how you were like Amber when you were younger isn't it?" Robin accused while pointing a finger at her.

"What, of course not. I'm not so petty that I'd want to get back at you for something so trivial." Summer denied Robin's accusation instantly. Needless to say, we didn't believe her. The way her eyes refuses to make eye contact with any of us is very telling. It's one of her quirks that you'll discover once you get to know her. Whenever she lies, she just can't make eye contact. I find it kinda cute actually.

"Anyway, all the things about Aura aside, that's an awesome weapon." I said, eyeing it even though it's already sheathed behind Robin's back. I silently thank the gods that she didn't go into an in depth explanation of it's mechanics and functions because I'm pretty sure I can't stop myself from popping a boner if she did. I never knew I had a thing for ridiculously designed weaponry until three months ago. "Can I touch it?" I asked the same question that I've asked many times whenever I see someone that brought their awesome weapons with them.

"Down boy." Summer told me with a roll of her eyes. "You can stop geeking out now."

"But Summer, how can you not see just how awesome it is! It turns into a cannon for crying out loud!" I exclaimed as I wave my arms around.

"I know it is, but you don't have to go gaga over it like every other weapon you came across. You literally do this every time you see a new weapon that you've never seen before. You even drooled over mine when I brought it over to show you." Summer let out a tired sigh as she recalled the past experiences she had with me whenever I saw a new piece of weaponry from this world. Hey, it's not my fault that they're all so awesome looking.

"Aww, don't be jealous Summer. Your weapons is cool as well but hers is bigger."

"I'm not Jealous! And size doesn't matter, it's how you use it!" Summer defends her own weapon as she thump her foot on the ground once while she turns to pout at me.

"Suuurreeee."

"Ahem." Robin suddenly coughed into her hand to get our attention, I saw that she has a tint of red on her cheeks as she regarded me in what I presumed to be embarrassment. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for assuming that you're a kidnapper. Everyone on the police force had been on a frantic search for Amber after she was reported missing by her mother. I just kind of assumed the worst when there hasn't been any been any calls for any demands a while after Amber went missing. Needless to say, everyone's scared of what her mother will do if they don't find her daughter soon."

"You've always been easy to jump into conclusions." Summer said while nodding to herself, earning a small laugh from Robin before the redhead finally remembering that she was holding onto two cones of ice-cream in her hands. "Uh oh." She let out in panic when she noticed that they were already melting quite rapidly and was dripping down the cone. "Quick! Lick it before it gets to you hand. Here's yours." She told me as she hold out my ice-cream towards me while hastily eating hers from the bottom up so that her hand would remain clean from the sticky liquid

"Aww man, it's melting already." I complained as I took my treat from Summer's hands, ignoring the sticky feeling I got when I touched the cone. With my treat in hand, I turn my attention to Robin. "I'm pretty much fine aside from the stinging wrist but it'll go away eventually. So no harm no foul I guess. Side's, I get abused by Summer almost everyday so this much is no biggie." I told her with a non-caring shrug.

"Well you've deserved it." Summer defended herself immediately with a slight blush on her face before she let out a huff and look away.

"Oh woe, woe is me. My friend likes to bully me for no reason and I can't figure out the cause." I wiped away an imaginary tear as I let out a sniffle.

"You know full well the reason why, so don't go pretending that you're innocent." Summer said as she proceeded to prod me on the side, trying to get a reaction out of me. Too bad for her because I'm not ticklish and all she got for her trouble was a smirk. I do know that she's ticklish though. Summer wasn't happy that her poke didn't do anything so she chose to ignore me instead and focus on finishing her ice-cream.

"Thank you for forgiving me Alex." Robin said once we're done bickering and I saw that she had a relieved expression on her face. "I'll be sure to compensate you in someway for tackling and putting you on a joint lock earlier but until then, I have something I need to do. You live in May's cafe do you not? It should be easy to find you if that's the case."

"It's fine really. Holding grudges takes a lot of effort so I usually don't bother. Buuuutttttt, if you want to give me something for free I'm not going to stop you since that would be stupid." I told her with a cheeky smile.

"Don't go taking advantage of other people's kindness." Summer retorted.

"Like how you always take advantage of mine?" I responded with a knowing smile and Summer had no reply other than to cough into her hand with an embarrassed blush on her face. I just chuckled and brought my melting ice-cream my my mouth.

But before I dig in, a thought suddenly came to mind and I voiced it out. "Wait, what kind of mother does Amber have for the police to panic like that? And why would your first assumption be that she was kidnapped instead of her getting lost on her own?" I asked, sounding very concerned because I have said daughter in my care for a while now.

"Yeah, now that you mentioned it..." Summer trailed off with a thoughtful look on her face as the thought finally occurred to her at last.

"Oh… she's someone you don't want to mess with, trust me. She can and will ruin you life with a snap of her fingers and that's her being generous." Robin stated seriously. We both didn't miss the look of terror entering her eyes before they were forced down and replaced with the easy going look that she had while talking to us before. Before any of us could ask about it, Robin started speaking again. "But who knows, maybe you've just earned a lot of points in her books by finding her daughter and keeping her safe."

"I see…." I said, not knowing how to feel about this development. Being in a mysterious yet somehow powerful individual's good books? Well, I'd take that over being in some shady gang's shit list any day. I started to ponder just who could Amber's mum be and by doing so, my head slowly look towards the ground as I started to think deeply.

It was because of that did I finally notice something on the ground. "Oh crud." I muttered out when I saw the groceries that was strew all over the ground. There were also eggs in there that's without a doubt broken now. "Oh well, there goes dinner."

"Huh? what's wrong?" Summer asked as she finished up her ice-cream, tossing in the small remains of her cone into her mouth in a very unladylike manner.

"See for yourself." I told her as I gestured at the mess on the ground. The ladies gaze followed where I was pointing and they saw the bags laying all over the place. Robin seem to panic at that and quickly bow her head in apology.

"I'm sorry! I'll pay you back for everything I promise!"

"Really? Great. I can just wash the salvageable ones off before I use them but since there are some fragile things in there, they might be broken now. I really wasn't sure what to do about it since we bought the things according to the list and budget given to us." I lied to her, letting loose an evil smile that went unnoticed by Robin because her head was bowed down so she couldn't see.

"But didn't we get them for f-" Summer choose this moment to spoke up but I quickly place my hand over her mouth to silence her. I idly noticing that it's sticky from the ice-cream that she had consumed. Summer was surprised by my action and quickly swat my hand away uses the back of her hand to wipe her mouth in disgust.

She turn to glare at me and I just shrugged and quickly put a finger over my mouth in the universal sign for silence, earning a confused quirk of an eyebrow and a disapproving stare. Well, she isn't making any move to stop me now so I guess there's that.

"I see." Robin said, not even suspecting a thing as she lifted her head and proceeds to dig out her wallet from her pocket. She took out a hundred lien from it and handed it to me without even hesitating. "Here you go. I hope this is more than enough to pay you back for the things that were destroyed. You can keep the change so don't worry about it." She said a smile on her face, surprising me greatly as I wasn't expecting such a large amount for compensation. I stare at the offered money for a brief second before I took it without a single trace of guilt in my morally corrupted heart and smiled happily at the free money that I've earned.

What I'm doing is probably no different from what May would do with her Customers when they broke the things in the cafe so if there's anyone to blame for how I'm behaving, it's her. I learn from example after all.

Now to get away before she realized that she had been duped.

"Well then, I think we've wasted enough time talking here. We really should be bringing Amber back to her mother." I said with a bright smile.

Robin seem to realize that as well and check on her Scroll for the time. "Oh my, this much time had passed already?" She said in surprise before putting away her Scroll. "Well, I was looking for the girl in the first place so I can take her off your hands and bring her to her parents for you if you want."

Oooo, this is the best offer that I've gotten all day. This way I don't have to head into a police station and quite possible be asked a lot of questions that I'm not comfortable with answering. "That'll be great, thanks. Well, I suppose this is goodbye then Amber….Amber?" After not hearing any sort of response from the energetic child, I couldn't help but get this feeling of déjà vu. I quickly look towards my side where she was suppose to be at only to find empty space there.

And of course, the little bugger is gone while we were busy chatting.

 **-0-**

After a short while of panicking and searching, we finally found the little bugger by another stall and had to physically dragged her away before she could ask for more food. After that, we explained to her that the new lady is going to be the one to bring her back home and by we, I actually meant Summer because I was told to clean up the mess on the street by a police officer that was passing by.

The ladies weren't even asked to clean the mess because they're both pretty ladies so methinks that the cop didn't have the balls to tell them that so he went for me instead. Then again, it might be because Robin is a Huntress and Summer is a Huntress-in-training and one of them has a freaking giant sword strapped onto her back.

And soon after that came the time for Amber to leave.

The little girl waved us goodbye with a sad face as Robin lead her away by her hand down the street where the station was at. It was just one full minute away just in case anyone wanted to know. To think that we were so close to our destination already but got distracted at the very last moment.

Summer and I waved goodbye to her as well and I continued to wave even when they were nothing more than fading silhouettes in the distance.

"You can stop waving now you know? Amber probably can't see you this far away." Summer informed me as she shifted one of the bags that I've picked up from the ground from one hand to the other.

"I know..." By now Amber and Robin were gone but I continued to wave on nonetheless.

"Are you actually crying?" Summer asked in disbelief when she turn around to look at me and noticed something trailing down my cheek.

"N-no..." I denied as my voice came out croaked. "I just have something in my eye." I finally stopped waving and use the hand that I had up to quickly wipe the falling tear away. I would've used my other hand to do it but it was holding on to bags of groceries.

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture and without looking, I can tell that it's Summer's because she's the only one here with me right now. "I know that you and Amber had bonded during the time you're together and I don't blame you for being sad that Amber's leaving already. I feel the same as well. But it's not like you'll never see her again. Who knows, maybe you'll meet out on the street one day or she'll come visit you in the cafe." I heard her said with a gentle voice in effort to comfort me.

' _Huh? Is that what she thought I was feeling sad about?'_ I look at Summer in the eye and saw that she was looking at me with a sympathetic expression. Is she actually worried about me? It's quite a touching feeling actually, but I can't help but feel slightly guilty that her efforts were wasted because I'm actually sad about something else entirely. Best clear up this misunderstanding before she gets any weird ideas. "I'm actually waving goodbye to my money. An entire month of salary, gone just like that." I told her with a sob as the pain of losing something precious assail my heart once more.

Summer's face fell flat. "Oh….that makes more sense. Why am I not surprised?" She muttered as she shook her head in disappointment.

"Oh well, what's done is done. Now that Amber's out of our hands, let's go back before Boss scolds us for slacking off on the job. We've been out for more than two hours so I imagine she's not going to be very pleased with that." I said with a hearty laugh. I can already imagine the earful we're going to get the moment we step into the shop. Best not linger here anymore and give Boss more time to think of an even more creative punishments.

"What's with the sudden 180 change in mood? Are you a bipolar or something?" Summer asked with a sweatdrop.

"Still, our daughter sure grew up fast. She's already walking her own path and following her own dreams bravely. I remember how she would cling onto my leg and ask for sweets with that cute pout of hers like it was this morning." I said while ignoring Summer, sniffling while feeling nostalgic at memory of the cute little girl in a panda suit that just won't shut up about sweet things. Good times, those were.

"She's not our daughter and also, it _is_ because you met her this morning." Summer poked me at the side again as she reminded me in an annoyed tone with an equally annoyed expression. But her annoyed expression soon turn into one of mischief that made me feel a sense of dread in my heart. "So, about that favor..."

Needless to say, I immediately turn heel and ran.

My poor attempts in escaping was instantly thwarted as Summer shot her hand out and grabbed the back of my shirt in a death grip. "Oh no you don't. You're not getting out of this that easily." I could hear her evil chuckles coming from behind me and my eyes quickly scan the area for anything that I can use to escape her grip aside from shedding my shirt.

Seeing nothing in the immediate vicinity, my mind concluded that it's better to just give in. That traitor. "Alright, fine." I said as I threw my hands up in the air in the universal sign of surrender. "What is it that you want?"

"I'll tell you when I think of something." Summer said as she let go of my shirt, her face sporting a satisfying smile. "I just wanted to make sure that you don't 'forget' about it when we get back." Summer made an air quote with her fingers as she gave me a cheeky smile.

"That was a very childish way to get people to owe you, you know?" I muttered.

"Well it worked didn't it?" Summer replied with a smirk.

"Only because I let it happen." I shot back before sighing. "Ugh, just thinking about it is already dampening my mood. Who knows what kind of eldritch torment you might think up as your favor."

"Hey! I'm not that bad." Summer protested.

"So you say." I told her as I rolled my eyes. "Oh man, I miss Amber already. Her adorableness would no doubt cheer me up in times like these."

"Oh cheer up Jerkface, it's not that bad. Besides, even if you lost your personal minion today, at least you managed to swindled a veteran Huntress to pay for your things that you got for free. That's gotta count as something right?"

Realizing that she was right, I took out the hundred lien that I got from my pocket and stare at it with a faint smile on my lips. "Yeah, guess you're right. At least I have some cash in my pockets now."

As as soon as those words left my mouth, money in my hand suddenly vanished from my hand. I blinked in confusion as the paper bill just blurred out of my sight, my hand opening and closing only to grasp thin air before I turn to look at where the blur went. Summer was holding onto the lien that I got while giving me a mischievous look.

"Hey, what gives!?"

"I'm in charge of your money now remember? Therefore, you're not allowed to hold onto your own cash until you learn to be responsible with it." She answers with a smug smile as she stuff the cash into her own pocket.

"You always take everything from me." I complained sulkily as I shove my hands into my pockets and look away with a pout. Just as I did that, my hand touched something metallic and I remembered that I actually have my very own Scroll now.

"Only when I know it'll annoy you to no end." Summer giggled as she gave me a good natured elbow jab to my side. Her elbowing did more than just prod me as it made my stumble in my step.

"Hey!" I cried out in panic because I was in the middle of taking my Scroll out. The damn thing slipped from my hand as I stumbled and it clattered onto the ground, drawing Summer's attention towards it. "Oh crud." I said as I quickly went to pick it up.

Summer look on in surprise as I retrieve my Scroll. "Hey, since when did you have a Scroll?" She asked, unable to hide the shock in her voice.

"This morning." I answered her as I opened it from it's compacted form and raised it near my eye to see if it's damaged in any way. The screen lit up instantly with a blip, showing me my empty homescreen. There's nothing wrong on it that I can see, not even a scratch. Maybe it's because it's in it's compacted form or something and thus, the screen was protected. It's not like I've been using it for long enough that I can pick out any damage on it with just a glance or two. Meh, I probably won't notice it even if it's damaged so it shouldn't matter much.

"Can I see it?" Summer asked with interest, moving closer towards me and leaning over to get a proper look at my Scroll.

Sensing her presence getting closer to me and the potential danger of having something stolen from me again, I instinctively moved in a way that was honed from spending a lot of time from younger siblings who always wants to take your things and break them. "You can't have it." I said stingily as I hid my Scroll from her sight with my body. I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously, treating her like a criminal that would swipe my Scroll from my hand at any moment like my money.

Summer back off with both her hands raised in a placating manner. "Sheesh, chill out. I already have my own already so I'm not going to take yours. You don't have to look at me like I'm some sort of criminal ya know." Summer said with an annoyed huff and pouted in displeasure as she place her hands on her hips.

"Sure you aren't." I said in a very unconvinced tone. "Also, you made me drop it in the first place so if it's damaged in any way, you're paying for it."

"Oh don't be such a worry rat. Scrolls are build sturdy, they have to be considering the hazards Huntsmen have to go through on a daily basis so a little fall won't do anything to it at all." Summer reassured me. "How about this. As an apology, I'll give you my number so you'll actually have someone in your contact list instead of it being pitifully empty." she said with a cheeky smile.

"I don't think I want it." I muttered in discontent as I look to the side before starting to walk away.

"Hey!" Summer cried out indignantly as she stride forward to catch up. "Why not? I don't just give my number out randomly you know."

"I think it's because you don't have anyone to give it to until now."

"That's so not true!"

And so, we continued on our way back to the shop, bickering all the while about various topics. Still, I never expected that a trip like this would result in a crash course about aura so I managed to gain something out of this at the very least. I'm still poor as before yes, but my knowledge of this world increased somewhat. I'm not a very picky person so I'll take what I can get.

I got Summer's number in the end but that's mainly because she forced it onto me when she snatch my Scroll away and typed her number into it. And thus, just like that, I finally manged to get a girl's number for the first time since I was born. Mum back home would've been proud.

Needless to say, we both got scolded badly by Aunt May when we get back which each blaming the other as the reason why we took so long.

 **-0-**

 **One week later**

I open the cupboard to check it's contents, idly noting that the hinges aren't creaking or anything like last time so I don't have to oil it later. I looked inside, eyes darting left to right as I mentally took note of everything. I turn my gaze away from the cupboard and to the clipboard on my right hand and use the pen on my left to jot down what we have and what we don't.

It's early in the morning and I'm in the kitchen doing my usual routine of checking on our supplies before I have to go out and rearrange the tables and chairs.

Not much has happened since Amber left and my life continued on as always. Summer and I continue to work here like usual and when Monday came, I'm left all alone with my Boss to take care of the customers in this shop while the days rolled by idly.

The weekdays have been...quiet, as usual and part of me knew that it would be the same for the weekends as well once this month is over. Summer would have repaid her debt and is no longer obliged to work here to pay it off. She'll probably use her newfound free time to catch up with her friends or something, maybe even go training so she would be better prepared to take on the Grimm threat.

You know, I kept forgetting that Summer is actually a Huntress-in-training with how normal she is most of the time. Eventually she would grow up and become a full fledged Huntress, kicking ass and taking names. It just made me realized just how the worlds we live in are just too different from one another. She would become a protector of humanity while I would probably be considered lucky to even an achievement worth mentioning to others.

I'm pretty certain that I've wasted a lot of her time that she could use to get stronger had I not put her in Aunt May's debt when we first met. Ugh, just thinking about it is making me feel guilty again. I'm holding her back and I didn't even realized it until now. Thankfully she'll be free soon so there's that.

Side's we've already put up a sign that says we're hiring in preparation for that. We'll have to get the newcomer up to speed with what they need to do here and I'll have to help them with the things that they are unfamiliar with first and train them in the basics before we could fully rely on them though.

There had been a few applicants but Boss deemed most of them not good enough and I'm getting worried that I'll have to deal with the everything all on my own. But I won't lose hope so easily. I deeply believe that we'll hire someone eventually and I won't have to brave the hordes of caffeine zombies all on my own during the weekends.

Other than that, things went on as normally as they can get in a world filled with superpowered teenagers and monsters that came straight out of a children horror story. And when there's nothing interesting happening, I get bored easily.

And so, in order to counteract that, I try to distract myself as much as possible by chatting with my new friend inside my head that I've been treating as a sign of mental illness for months but is actually not.

' _So… we checked everything right?'_ I thought inside my own head out loud so that it could be heard by the weird voice lady.

 **[Affirmative.]** The voice chimed in reply inside my own head and I jolt in surprise. God damn it! Still not used to having someone talking inside my head. **[Moreover, I'd like to point out that I am not weird.]**

Crap, she heard that? _'Sorry Sheila. Still getting use to having you in my head after all.'_

Some explanation is in order I suppose.

After Summer went back home after her shift ended last Sunday, I started to get bored again as one would expect from someone with short attention span. Desperate for something to do least I go mad from boredom, I finally chose to face the thing that had been with me from the very beginning but never did until now because I thought it was an evil spirit possessing me.

In short, my boredom lead me to attempting to communicate with the voice that I've been hearing at random intervals for the past three months.

Trying to talk to her had been very hard at first, mainly because I have no idea how. I tried many things from meditating to clear my mind to doing weird poses in hopes that it would get a reaction from Sheila but nothing seems to work. Then after two days of trying and experimenting, she finally responded because she was getting worried about my mental state since I've already started drawing satanic circles on the ground by that point.

Then she told me that all I needed to do to communicate with her was to think loudly inside my head. Sheesh, she could've told me that earlier before I bought a swiped a bucket of animal blood from the butcher's.

The voice in my head is called Sheila, her words, not mine. I'm rather surprised when I first heard her name because it's the same as my baby sister's. What a coincidence right?

 **[According to my calculations, I have been active for approximately 97 days; 16 hours; 44 minutes and 24 seconds.]** Which according to her, is two hours before I woke up in the alley just in case anyone wanted to know. **[You would have ample time to adjust to my presence had you not been stubbornly pretending that I don't exist.]**

' _Thank you Sheila, you can stop reminding me of that now.'_

 **[Affirmative. Standing by for further orders.]**

So anyway, once we get to know each other I started asking many questions and she answered me what she can. She explained to me that she is not some sort of evil spirit that I originally thought but is an actually virtual intelligence that was implanted in my cerebrum that I can use for multitasking when I need to.

By who you asked?

Apparently myself.

Just what the fuck kind of drug was I on to think that it was actually a good idea to have a VI drilled into my cerebrum?

Anyway, she's also a combat module VI that helps with...you know, combat stuff. So, whenever she detects that I'm in danger or there's a threat nearby, she'll activate her main subroutine and analyze everything around me before giving me the many ways that I can deal with said threat.

She also has a very loose definition of what a threat is.

One of the thing her subroutine does is forcefully suppressing my emotions so that I won't panic and make mistakes when fighting. The emotion suppression also activates to calm me down when she thinks I'm in emotional distress but the rest of the functions remained undeployed.

Another thing is she does is that she pumps up my adrenaline to makes things seem slower than it actually is so that I'll have more time to make plans and act on them.

She also calculates things during a fight like predicting trajectories of thrown objects and bullets, what an enemy's next move would most likely be and what I should do next for the best outcome.

Realizing that she's the source of what's causing my brain to act so wacky, I promptly asked her to stop. She reluctantly agreed to while stating that she is merely following her programming to increase my chances of survival in a hostile environment, otherwise she has no idea what else she should be doing. I felt guilty after basically telling someone to do something that they were basically made for so I told her that I'll turn it back on when I think my life is in danger.

I've been in Remnant for quite some time now and I've learned a lot during my stay here. I don't think I'll panic as easily as before so it's best to leave that emotion suppression thingy off for now so I can live normally.

With that out of the way, I now don't have to worry about having my emotions forcefully suppressed just because I slipped on a wet puddle and my mind filled with so much data that I can't think straight. She also have other functions that she has but I had enough info bombs already so I didn't ask what they were.

Once she was done explaining who she was and what she does, I asked her if she knew how I got here to which she simply replied with one simple word. Classified.

Then I asked her why I'm here and also got the same reply. I kept asking many things that's mostly related to my presence in Remnant and they all got me the same answer. Once I had enough of hearing the word 'classified', I asked why can't she tell me.

Her answer surprised me.

The information relating to my presence in Remnant had been locked away for safety purposes had been authorized by non other than...you've guessed it, me.

Apparently, there's a lot of things past me didn't want me to know yet; probably so he can make a dramatic reveal about it later for plot purposes.

Fucking prick. I can already imagine him laughing like some sort of villain at my predicament like the arsehole that he is.

Yeah, I gave up trying after that. Anyway, Sheila is mostly quiet unless I need her or when she thinks there's something that needs to be brought to my attention so she shouldn't disrupt my life too much. Things are just like before then I suppose. Only now I won't think that a ghost is stalking me when I hear voices in my head again.

I heard the doorbell out in the front rang and I stopped what I was doing while my head automatically swivel towards where the sound came from on instinct. Hearing that means that someone just entered through there. I look towards the clock hanging on the wall and noticed that It already six o'clock in the morning so that could only mean one thing.

I smiled as I wondered what kind of fun things would happen today as I left the clipboard on a nearby table. I made my way towards the front of the shop and swung open the doors to the front and was greeted with the sight of a familiar redhead making her way to the kitchen.

"Oh hey! Looks who's back already. Good afternoon Summer~" I greeted her cheerfully with a nod.

"It's morning you sleepyhead." She greeted back, smiling slightly as she nods back.

Yes, this is how we greet each other. I'll start by greeting her with the wrong period of time and she'll correct me with the right one. I'm not sure how it all started or why we stuck with it but it eventually became the way we greet each other and it almost never fails to make either of us amused.

"What's that you got in your hand?" I asked when I noticed she was holding onto a paper bag as she got nearer and it had a logo of some kind of shop on it.

"Oh this?" Summer lifted the bag up to show me with a bright smile on her face. Seeing her so cheerful in the morning that made me feel slightly curious before that feeling turn into suspicion. The lack of crumbs on her face indicates that she haven't eaten any cookies recently hence the reason why I'm so suspicious at her cheerful mood. Usually, she'll be coming here drowsily if she didn't eat any cookies to jump start her systems and would only be fully functional when I gave her a cup of coffee. Something's seriously off here and it's killing me that I don't know what.

"I got this for you." She said with a barely concealed giggle as she placed it on the counter. She took a step back before gesturing at it for me to come over.

"You bought something? For me?" I exclaimed in surprise, feeling very flabbergasted because something like this never happened before in my life. Sure I've received gifts during my birthdays before but I only got them from my family. This is the first time someone else other than them bought something for me and I'm not sure how to react to this situation.

"Sure did. Come on, open it up." She told me with badly concealed excitement. Oh great, now I'm feeling guilty that I never thought of buying something for her at all...wait a minute. This is Summer that we're talking about here so there's gotta be a catch somewhere. There's no way she would just buy something for me out of the blue like that.

I look at her with a quirk of my eyebrow before looking at the bag with my eyes narrowed in suspicion. It's not moving on it's own so I guess whatever's inside is not alive? Either that or it's just laying in wait for me to approach.

Now I'm started to feel scared of whatever's inside the bag and is very hesitant to approach it. I look back to Summer to study her behavior, trying to gauge something from her body language in hopes that I can pick out a clue or two. All I can tell is that Summer is looking at me expectantly and is starting to show signs of impatience.

There's something in there alright and whatever it is, Summer wants me to be the one to open it first. Grrr, this is getting nowhere at all. "What's in it?" I asked the girl as my mind thought of the many possibilities that could be contained in that little bag.

"A surprise obviously." Summer replied with a roll of her eyes. "Just open it and you'll see."

Having a distinctive feeling in my gut that's telling me that I can't avoid this, I decided to just risk it and see what it is. I approach the bag cautiously, remembering not to let Summer out of my sight just in case. Once I got close enough, I raise my hand towards it and let it linger just a few centimeters above it.

It should be safe to open it….right?

Taking a deep breath, I quickly spread the lid of the bag open and my expression that had the look of wariness turned into one of bewilderment. I gingerly took the contents on the bag out for both of us to see and letting it hang freely in my hands. One hand held a shirt while the other held a pair of jeans of matching colour. "So...you got me clothes..." I trailed off as I turn my gaze from the long sleeved shirt and cargo pants in my hand back to Summer and saw that she had a huge grin on her face.

"Yep." She answered cheerfully. "You don't have anything other than that shirt and pants right? So I thought I would help expand your wardrobe like any good friend ought to. Not sure if it's your size though but I'm sure you'll grow into it eventually." She nodded to herself and is most likely petting herself in the back.

"It's at least three times my size. I think this is suppose to fit an adult, a muscular adult." I pointed out.

"Yeah, I kinda told the clerk that I needed some clothes for my dad when I went shopping and since she knew who he is, she brought me the size that she thought would fit him. So, do you like it?" She asked, smiling ever so innocently at me with mischief dancing beneath those silver eyes of hers. So her dad is confirmed to be very muscular or just big in general. I'm suddenly very thankful that I never met him because from what I heard of him from Aunt May, he's very protective of his daughter and I've been teasing her a lot since we've met.

"It's pink!" I exclaimed as I shake the shirt and jean in my hands for her to see.

"I know." She replied, her smile turned into a grin.

"Pink is a girl's colour."

"I know." She repeated, her shit eating grin widening.

"This-this is not what I was expecting at all" I said as I place the clothes on the counter. I'm rather torn between being happy that she brought something for me and annoyed that she brought something girly on purpose. "Well, it could be wors- wait a minute, you used my money to buy it didn't you?" I snapped my head at her and stare at her pointedly.

"Of course I did." She answered without a hint of guilt and her grin widen to an epic proportion as she beamed brightly at me. She's totally enjoying this. "I'm actually helping you out you know. We both know you'll just buy useless things with you money but with me, I'll spent it on something you can actually use." She declared proudly.

"How is this not useless!? The shirt and pants are too big and it's in the colour that I wouldn't be caught dead wearing! I'm not even sure what I'm suppose to do with it." I retorted.

Summer let out a shocked gasp in response, taking a step back from the counter and staring me eyes wide in disbelief. "Are you telling me you're not going to wear it, even after I put in so much effort to pick something out for you so that you'll have something else other than those clothes to wear?" She exclaimed before she purse her quivering lips together, looking at me with teary eyes as she place her hand over her chest like I had just stabbed her in the heart.

I look at her with a perfect deadpan.

The way she looked made it seem like my dismissal of her gift hurt her, and I would've believed her had I didn't notice the twitching on her face and the visible shaking of her shoulders. She's obviously trying to maintain her facade of being sadden by me and not burst out laughing at the face that I'm making.

Ignoring her, I look back to the shirt on the counter with a contemplating expression plastered on my face. Hmmm, should I, or should I not? Maybe I should, just for a few laughs. Summer is leaving after all and we might not get a lot of chance to goof around as much after this month is over... Ugh, I can't believe that I'm even considering wearing this just so Summer could laugh at me. It's not like I won't see her anymore and she can come to the cafe whenever she wants so why am I feeling so sentimental already?

Seeing that here's nothing to lose other than my dignity, I decided to humor her and put the over-sized shirt on over my work uniform. My action seem to surprise her as she dropped her act completely to stare at me in astonishment.

I look down at myself to see what I look like right now. With the shirt draped on, I can easily see the hem reaching down to my thigh and the sleeves were too long so I can't see my hands anymore.

...it's also oddly comfortable.

My was inspection was interrupted when I heard the sound of muffled giggling coming from the front. I look towards the source and found that Summer had both her hands over her mouth and pure mirth shinning in her eyes as she looked at me. She did well restraining her laughter...for about 10 seconds. "Pfffff. Oh god, you look like you're wearing a short dress." She pointed out before she burst out laughing as her control over her laughter reached it's limit. She laughed so hard that she had to clutch her stomach and wipe away the tear in her eye.

"Oh hardy har har." I said with a roll of my eye and look back to the shirt and tug at it to see how far it can stretch. When I was busy tugging the shirt, I saw a flash at the corner of my eye and my head snapped towards it immediately. Summer was standing there grinning like a loon with her Scroll in her hands. My eyes widen in panic when I realized that the flash that I saw just now meant that she had just taken my picture.

I leap over the counter to snatch her Scroll from her hand but she dodged my clumsily executed tackle easily with relative ease as well as a giggle. "Summer! Delete that picture!" I shouted as soon as I landed on the ground with a tumble.

"No way~" She told me in a sing song voice as she quickly moves away from me. I quickly push myself up and quickly give chase, hell bend on getting rid of that embarrassing photo in her Scroll.

I ended up chasing her around the shop while wearing the over-sized shirt for about five minutes straight before I ran out of steam. Summer on the other hand, was laughing or giggling playfully all the while. I really wanted to berate myself for thinking that I could catch her in the first place but I was too tired to. As a Huntress-in-training, it's without a doubt that she has superior stamina and is more nimbler than me.

I ended the chase in the kitchen because I feel like my heart was about to burst out of my chest by then. I was panting with my hands on my knees as I try not to fall to the ground while Summer was a few feet away, looking at me with a quirk eyebrow.

"Wow, you're really out of shape." She commented as she got closer.

"*Pant* Shut *pant* up." I grunted out in between pants. "You're just *pant* too in shape."

"What's with all the racket going on down here?" We both heard the annoyed grumble of our employer as she came down the stairs while yawning. Her green hair looked messy and was standing up in some places like she had just gotten out of bed. The attire that she wore is a simple green shirt and a pair of gray yoga pants while her feet dons a pair of bunny slippers.

The more I look at her the more I'm convinced that she had just climbed out of bed. Isn't she the adult here? Shouldn't she be keeping up appearance? Oh wait, this is Aunt May that we're talking about here. She probably doesn't give a shit about how she looked.

"Oversleeping toady Aunt May? That's pretty rare of you." Summer told the older woman as I regained my breath.

"Unlike you brats, I actually have things I need to take care of at night so you should consider yourselves lucky to be able to sleep early." The woman replied while scratching her head and letting out another yawn.

"You mean like wasting the day's spending in the casino?" I said.

"Gah, how did you know about that." May recoiled from me in surprise, eyes wide and most likely shocked awake from the revelation that I made earlier. "And why are you wearing a dress?" She added when she notice the pink abomination that I'm wearing.

"It's not a dress!" I shouted out angrily as I quickly took the shirt off while Summer just chuckles to the side. "Anyway, I found the entrance pass to the casino on the counter this morning so it's not that hard to assume where you've been. You should be careful with gambling Boss, you'll never know if your luck would suddenly turn for the worst and lose all of your cash." I warned the older woman sternly as I fold the shirt, remembering all the painful times that I've used my hard earned money for the gachas in mobile games and never got what I wanted.

"Oh, quit worrying about it. I'll have you know that I always win more than I lose." May reassures me while waving me away.

"How?" I asked as I place the shirt on the nearby table, planning on dealing with the so called gift that I received from Summer later.

"I cheated." She answered with a proud smile on her face as she puff her chest out.

….

…..

"...teach me." I asked seriously.

"Heck no. Alright, It's late already so you two better get a move on." May gestured at the clock on the wall to draw our attention towards it and I noticed that it's almost time to open shop. I still have quite a few things that I haven't done as well so I panicked.

"Oh crud. Gotta go." I said as I grab the shirt on the table and ran out to the front while Summer quickly head upstairs to pick up and change into her maid uniform. Once out at the front, I stuffed the shirt in the bag along with the jean and place it to the side to deal with it later.

As I was doing so, I heard someone knocking on the glass.

Feeling confused, I look up from behind the counter to see who it was and was rather surprised when I found someone familiar standing outside.

Amber was there, and she had her face stuck onto the glass window like how we first met. She's wearing the same dress that she wore when we first met and was looking excitedly at me and waving frantically to get my attention.

I dart towards the door to open it and she moved from the window to greet me at the entrance. "Big bro! Hello~" She greeted me as soon as I opened the door with a beaming smile so bright that made me wish I had brought sunglasses with me. Oh god, she's so smol, so adorable. I wanna pick her up and cuddle her so badly.

No! Bad! Bad brain. You're not turning me into a criminal just to satisfy your perverted desires! It's only been a week and I've already lost my resistance to the adorable little creature.

"Amber, what are you doing here so early in the morning." I asked the brown haired child that looked utterly brimming with energy.

Amber just smiled and simply answered. "I wanted to see you and Big sis again."

Awwwwww. My heart, it's being stabbed by her cuteness. "Ah, I see. But why so early? Couldn't come visit at any time of the day?"

"Well, my mummy said that I got too much money for just one day of working so she asked if I wanted to keep coming back here to help out during the weekends. I said yes immediately because I thought it was a great idea because that way I can keep spending time with you guys." Amber responded excitedly, hands clenched into tiny fists as she pump them up and down during the entire time she explained the reason why she was here. "She also said you can be trusted since you took care of me and tried to bring me home. So she wanted me to ask you if you can keep on taking care of me during my stay here for her."

I stood silently, trying to process what she told me. So just because I feed her and tried to bring her back, she deemed me trustworthy enough to look after her daughter? "Seriously, what kind of mother do you have?" I simply asked.

"The best!" Amber answered pridefully.

Not wanting to say anything about her mother that would upset the young girl, I decided to change the topic. "So who's this big guy?" I finally addressed the elephant in the room, or in this case, the bear in the room as I jerk my thumb over to my right at the bear Faunus that had been standing there by our side since the beginning.

The man is easily over 7 feet tall, has a broad back and a heavily muscular physique that looked like it belonged to a body builder. He is wearing black business suit with a black tie and black dress shoe. His short and messy hair was brown and he's wearing a pair of sunglasses so I can't see what his eyes are like. He was a very large scar running from the top left of his forehead to his right cheek.

Even though he's just standing there with his arms cross and not doing anything else, I can feel some sort of very heavy pressure emitting from him that seem to be directed at me only.

He would've looked utterly terrifying...if he didn't have a pair of cute bear ears on his head. Those ears are a very good distraction from the terrifying aura he's emitting.

"He's mah new friend." Amber answered cheerfully. "Mum said he gets lonely easily so she asked me to bring him along when I come over. You don't mind right big bro?"

"Of course not..." I trailed off with a warily laugh because I'm pretty sure that the man is glaring at me when Amber asked me that. All the while, my brain goes to work to better understand the situation. Upon hearing what Amber had told me, my mind just automatically try to deduct what's actually happening instead of relying on Amber's words on their own. God knows that when a child says something, there are things that they will leave out because they either can't remember or thought it's not worth mentioning.

And so, I started to compile what I know so far.

First, Amber's mother is someone with a lot of power. Either literally or figuratively is still unknown but let's assume she's both just to be on the safe side. (Source: Robin)

Second, she got lost last week when wandering around in the market with her mother. (Source: Myself)

Third, Amber wanted to come over to play with us again and asked her mother. (Source: Amber)

Fourth, perhaps upon receiving such a request by her adorable daughter, she couldn't help but agree to it but on the condition that she doesn't go alone because of what happened last time. (Source: Wild speculation)

"Ah, so he's your bodyguard." I said in realization before an uneasy thought struck me and I turn to address the man. "So... you're here to watch over Amber and not here to keep watch over me and get rid of me just in case I do anything funny right?" I asked the burly man with slight anxiousness growing in my heart.

The man just grunted.

I suddenly don't feel very safe.

"Alex, who are you talking to?" I heard Summer's voice call out from inside and Amber took that as a cue to zip past me and enter the shop.

"Big sis!" I heard Amber call as she entered to greet the redhead.

"Amber!?" Summer cried out her name in surprise.

I didn't get a chance to look into the shop to see what the two were doing as the big guy suddenly stood in front of me in a very threatening manner. I finally got a good grasp of how large the man is when I had to crank my neck upwards fully just so I could met him in the eye. "Y-yes?" I managed to croaked out while I try to keep my body from shaking. It didn't work and I'm feeling very afraid for my life as sweat was pouring down my back.

He reached into his suit and my entire body tensed as I wondered if he's going to pull out a gun or something.

To my surprise and utter relief, he just pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to me in a very robotic manner. I reach out to take it with shaky hands and the man just cross his arms again once the note is in my hands.

I slowly turn my attention towards the piece of paper and opened it.

' _ **WE ARE WATCHING.'**_

The words on the note was written in the classic horror message kind of scrawls in what I presume to be the blood of his enemies as the words are very red and seem to be have a wet trail flowing down them. Either that or it's just red ink, very wet red ink.

I blanched and mutely look back up to the giant man only to see him jerk his thumb behind him. My gaze followed to where he was pointing at and I saw that he was jerking towards a very tall building a few rows back.

I just stared at the building, not really sure what I'm suppose to be looking at at first but then, I saw something. A sudden flash on the building's rooftop caught my eye and I narrowed my eyes to see if I can get a better look.

Wait a sec...what's that red line that suddenly appeared in the sky...I think it's leading straight towards…

I slowly look down to my chest and found a red dot that wasn't there before right at where my heart should be. I gulped and stiffly look back up to the rooftop to see another flash there.

Red dots plus unusual flashes on high areas usually means one thing in movies and video games.

There's a sniper on the roof.

Okay, what do we have here so far. Shady bodyguards, mysterious mother with lots of power behind her back, casually threatening people in broad daylight, possibly no qualms in taking other people's lives or just ruining them for their own gains…. All those could only lead me to one simply conclusion.

Good lord, Amber is the kid of a mafia boss. She even sent her minions here personally to ensure the safety of her daughter.

"I...I think I got the message." I nervously told the man and he simply nodded in response and move past me to enter the shop. The giant man had to bend down to enter the doorway and even then, it's still a tight fit for him.

"Woah! Who's that?" I heard Summer cried out from inside as I look back to my chest. The red dot is gone for now but it's safer to assume that the sniper has me in his or her scope at all times. I sighed and put the note in my pocket, thinking that today is going to be a very tensed and stressful day.

Just what on earth have I got myself into by picking up a kid in the middle of the street?

 **-0-**

 **End chapter**


	5. The Usual Morning

**Who's ready for more light hearted slice of life moments?**

 **What? You wanted an action filled chapter full of badass fight scenes and wanton destruction of the environment that'll satisfy your murder boner?**

 **Sorry mates, you'll have to wait until arc one is over; meaning these light hearted moments will last until Summer goes to Beacon. Hope I don't lose interest in this story before I managed to reach the part though. I have some things planned for that and it'll be a shame to see it go to waste and never see the light of day.**

 **I originally wanted to have this out on January but then I discovered a game called Subnautica. Needless to say, I got very distracted. Once I finished that, I found a game called Kingdom Come Deliverance and suddenly felt the urge to write my other fic that is also set in medieval times.**

 **In the game, I was investigating a murder in a city and ended up getting dead drunk with the local priest, had an orgy with his wife and a barmaid and had to give a sermon in the priest's place the next day due to his hangover. Such realism, much wow. 10/10 would try again.**

 **Also, there's like, over 20k words here so there's bound to be mistakes here and there. Double checking everything is very tedious and I have a very short attention span so sorry in advance I guess. Tee hee.**

 **The original plan was to stop at 10k. I'm not sure where the other 10k came from and frankly, I don't wanna know. Curse you muse, why do you only work when I don't need you to and never do when I needed you.**

 **Also, if you wanted to know in advance; I'll be introducing two new characters. One is from canon, another is an OC. There's another one as well but he's expendable so no need to remember him. He'll probably be gone and forgotten in a chapter or two.**

 **Now that this is done, it's time I move on to my next story.**

 **Warning: Bad grammar, wrong use of tenses and spelling mistakes inbound. You have been warned.**

 **-0-**

 **-0- Line Break**

 **(0) Pov Change**

 **-0-**

 **Chapter 5: The Usual Morning**

It was all very quiet as I walk down the stairs and into the kitchen. The sun haven't fully risen yet and only the faint orange rays could be seen shining through the small gap between the window curtains. The place was still quite dark so I went and flip the light switch that was positioned near the stairs, instantly enveloping the place in a bright light.

With the room lit, I lazily glance around the kitchen while letting out a yawn.

Only the faint rhythmic ticking of the clock on the wall could be heard as well as the chirping of some early rising birds so it's pretty peaceful right now. I look over to the clock and saw that it's already 5:15 in the morning. The usual time that I would wake up nowadays is 5 a.m. so it took about fifteen minutes for me to take a quick shower, brush my teeth as well as taking a morning piss before I came down here. Pretty fast am I right?

It might have something to do with the fact that I do all three at the same time thought.

Anyway, it's time to start the day and what other way to do so than making a nice, tasty breakfast that'll make the girls mew in delight.

I move towards the industrial fridge that we have to take out some basic ingredients that I need to make breakfast for everyone. The amount of people I have too cook for have increased considerably somewhat since last month and needless to say, it's gotten quite livelier too.

Amber joined, bringing along two addition with her and May finally hired someone not long after so I no longer have to worry about having to deal with everything all on my own.

I mull over my choices as I look at the things we have in the fridge. It's not that we lack the varieties of ingredients to make whatever per se; it's just kind of hard to decided on what to make when I'm still unclear as to what everyone's preference are. So most of the time, I just make what I want and hope that the rest likes them enough to eat them. Most of the time, it works.

I do have some idea what Aunt May and Summer enjoys eating since we've spent a lot of time together already. Amber too, but that's because she's very predictable. The rest however, I don't know them all that well yet so I can't say for sure.

Hmm, maybe I should ask about their tastes in food when I have the chance later on. It would certainly save me some of the hassle on deciding what to make in the future.

Let's see now, yesterday we had a normal sandwich and a glass of milk so I suppose I can't make the same thing as that today. Need a little diversity in our meals after all, since people will get sick of eating the same thing everyday. Besides, today is a very special day. Summer will be leaving the group after today so the bland and everyday things that we usually eat are out of the question. She deserves something special for all the hard work she had done over the course of these few months.

I'm going to go all out for today and proof to myself that all that time spent reading cooking recipes on the internet is not pointless!

After deciding on what I should make, I took out a carton of eggs, frozen bacon (not sure if it's legit bacon or from a dead pig Faunus but it says so on the package so I'm not questioning it), broccoli, carrots and a bottle of mayonnaise. I placed those things on the table before I head to collect the utensils needed as well a some red onions that's place inside a basket. I place a large pot underneath a sink and turn on the tap, letting the water fill it. As it does so, I went to collect the vegetables and wash them under the sink while keeping an eye on the pot.

When the pot is half full, I turn off the tap and move the pot to the stove.

With that done, I took out a bowl as well as a grater and place them on the table with the rest of the ingredients. I started shredding the carrot with the grater to fill the bowl with those thin, orange, stripy remains of what was once an orange stick. I was about halfway down before I was suddenly felt like I'm forgetting something here.

Odd, what could it be that I haven't done yet? Hmm….the ingredients for the dish is all laid out already...

Oh right, I forgot to turn on the stove. Silly me.

I turn away from the table and approach the stove. While I'm there, I also took a pan that's hanging on the rack in front of the stove for easy access. I place it on the burner next to the pot and reach out both my hand towards two small knob in front of me. I turned them, watching with disinterest as sparks flew before fire came to life.

I quickly went back to shredding the carrot before the pan heats up and managed to finish just in time to see some steam rising from the pan. I quickly pour oil into the pan, listening to the sizzling sound when the oil made contact with the hot surface before proceeding to liberate the bacon from it's package.

When the oil is hot enough, I turn the fire down a tad so the bacon won't burnt so easily and place the delicious goodies in to fry.

And of course, since the bacon's still frozen and hasn't thawed yet, the oil spattered like someone aiming their ass at me and firing all their shit. I immediately backpedaled from the pan that's spraying it's oil like a machine gun to avoid getting hurt.

I let loose another yawn before turning back to the table to prepare the rest of the ingredients.

I started chopping the onions and dumping them in the bowl with the carrots. By now, the water should be almost be boiling so I took the broccoli and cut them into bite-size pieces on a cutting board. I took the entire board with me as I move over to the pot and toss them into the boiling water. I place the board to the side and went to check on the beacon.

Seeing that the underside should be cooked enough, I used a pair of tongs to flip them over.

With the bacon and broccoli cooking, I started to make the dressing that will give the dish it's flavor and took out another bowl from the cupboard. I squirt some mayonnaise in and mixed some salt along with some vinegar. I used a whisk to mix them together before I went to collect the bacon and place them on a plate to cool.

So entranced with what I was doing, I failed to notice Aunt May coming down the stairs lazily while stretching her arms behind her.

"Morning kid, what's for breakfast?" The woman asked sleepily the moment she stepped down into the kitchen as always. This is literally the first thing she would ask at the start of everyday.

"I'm pretty sure I've never made this one before so I guess it's something new, for you at least." I answered her as I place more bacon into the pan to fry.

"Oh ho, now that caught my interest. So, what is it?" May's sleepiness was instantly washed away at the prospect of eating something she had never experienced before and she looked rather energized now. She then took a quick whiff to smell the aroma that was in the air with a happy smile on her face, no doubt already imagining what kind of meal that I'm making for her to dig in to.

That glutton.

"I smell bacon." May noted as she nods to herself as if patting herself on the back for being able to guess just what I'm making. She could be cheating since the package that had the label 'bacon' is still on the table.

"Yes, you're absolutely right about that. Anyway, breakfast isn't going to be ready for a while so why don't you find something to do in the meantime." I told the green haired woman.

"Eh, I've got some morning errands to run anyways. I'll be back in time to eat." She informed me before exiting through back door.

"Sure thing." I replied, watching her push open the doors and disappear to the other side. With her gone, I return to my duties as the chief of this household.

The broccoli should be done by now so I scoop them out and place them into an empty bowl to cool. With the broccoli out, I put in a dozen eggs into the pot, utilizing the still boiling water so it doesn't go to waste as well as saving on gas prices.

Oh wait, I mean red Dust prices.

You know, it's really amazing to me that everything is powered by Dust in this world. From what I've heard, it's integrated into almost every technology and appliances nowadays. Makes me wonder just how it is that the people on Remnant learned how to harness those magical all purpose batteries in the first place.

Hmm, maybe I should check the library for answers once I have the time. I'm certainly curious as to how they mined it from the earth.

Minutes passed by idly with me just making making breakfast all while humming a song that people from this world wouldn't know. And just like that, the vegetables are prepared; bacon's fried and cut into tiny pieces; the dressing done; eggs are boiled and placed on another bowl so whoever wants to eat them can take them and the pot is drained and washed.

All that's left is to put them all, except the eggs, into one big bowl and mix them together. Hmm… hang on a moment. Something seem to be missing from this. I narrowed my eyes in deep thought as I look at the bowl of mixed ingredients, trying to deduct just what it is that's missing from this.

Oh right, the almonds.

I went to the cupboard that stores them and took out jar of almonds and toss them into the bowl before I started mixing again.

Once that's done, I laid out the finished product in front of me, nodding to myself in satisfaction as I felt very pleased with the results.

I shall call it, the Broccoli Bacon Salad! Not very original, I know.

Aside from being a salad that you can eat on it's own, it'll go well with steak as a side dish too.

I gave the dish a taste, plopping a single broccoli into my mouth and started chewing. I close my eyes and let my taste buds savor the flavor while trying to see if there's anything missing from the taste as I did so. I nodded to myself in satisfaction as the taste is just what I expected it would be when I made it.

I can already imaging what the reception of this dish will be like. Summer would probably wolf it down like everything else that I've ever made for her; Amber would most likely be disgusted by the broccoli and only eat the bacon part while Aunt May would most likely try to smuggled some alcohol onto the table.

Oh well, at least I get to enjoy watching people eating my food as well as their reactions to it. I do enjoy observing Summer and Amber in particular as they both have something in common when it comes to eating food. As for what, it's that they both eat like hamsters. They're always stuffing their face full of food before they chew and I would get the urge to poke those round, stuffed cheek of theirs.

I opened the cupboard and take out six plates and place them on the table before I went to collect a lunchbox that was left on the dish rack. Six plates for six people; that would be Aunt May, Me, Summer, Amber, Bear guy and the one who'll eventually fill in on Summer's position. The lunchbox is for the sniper since he/she needs to remain at their post for obvious reasons.

I used the tong to split the salad evenly onto the six plates that I had laid out before filling in one of the slots of the lunchbox. I also made sure to place two hard boiled eggs inside the lunchbox while I'm at it. I'm quite glad that there's actually enough for everyone so I didn't have to make some more just so everyone can get a taste of this new product. I even took the time to pile them up so that they would look like small mounts on the plates. That way, I'll have more space to put other things to go along with the salad.

Now then, on with the next task.

I took some more eggs from the fridge and fry them on the pan that still have the bacon flavored oil on it. It's efficient and tasty.

I kept on making them until there's enough for seven people and place two on each plates. With the sunny side up done, I decided to prepare the things I needed to make pancakes, and that's when I heard the bell to the cafe entrance rang.

After hearing the bell, I look towards to the clock and saw that it's already 6 in the morning. That would mean that everyone's favorite redhead is here. I place the bowl that I was mixing the pancake ingredients in down on the table and headed to to greet her.

I push open the door to the kitchen and saw Summer shambling in like a zombie that had just risen from the grave, looking very drowsy with her eyes barely open.

I'm rather impressed that she could always arrive here on time without any accident in that state of hers. Maybe something did happen but she's too sleepy to even remember them happening. Hmm...I wonder how many cars had to veer out of the way just to avoid crashing into her as she walk across the street.

Probably best if I never found out.

I watch in amusement as Summer shuffle towards the nearest table, pull out a chair and promptly plop herself on it. She then place both her arms on the table and slump onto them, resting her forehead on her arms as her entire body relaxes while she let out a small sigh.

She's still pretty bad a waking up early even after four months of having to do so. I'm not sure if she could hear me or not the way she is right now but I greeted her anyway. "Good afternoon Summer." I called out to her cheerfully.

"Mhmnning" She grumbled out unintelligibly while tilting her head side to side to show that she had heard me. "Koffiiieeee pwease." she requested in her typical 'I'm still waking up' type of speech as she uses her hand to wrap her signature white cloak around her body like one would with a blanket.

He he, she said 'pwease', so adorable.

"Sure thing." I told the sleepy girl with a small smile on my face, feeling completely amused by the sight as I walk towards the coffee machine by the bar.

I turn on the power to the machine and opened the cap to pour in a measured amount of coffee beans in before adding water into the reservoir. With that done, I close the cap and I pressed the big red button that had the word 'start' on it.

The machine made a very satisfying beep sound.

Gotta love big red buttons.

"Give it a few minutes to brew Summer." I informed her as I look over the counter to see how she's doing.

"Mmnkay." Came the barely audible reply before all I got from her was the faint sound of her breathing and the slight moving of her shoulders. She probably went back to dreamland now so I suppose I should go back to making breakfast while the coffee brews.

I went back into the kitchen to make the pancakes. It should take about 15 minutes before the coffee's ready so I have plenty of time to make at least a few servings of pancakes before then.

By my estimate, I'm going to need to make at least 20 to 25 pieces so there will be enough for everyone.

As for why I needed to make so many, it's simply because Summer can really eat a lot despite her size. It might have something to do with the fact that she frequently trains and fight monsters so her body needed a lot more energy to function than a normal person. I have no doubt in my mind that she can easily burn off all the extra fat she had consumed with relative ease. It also explained why she's has such a slender body as well as a really nice still growing figure.

Ahem, bad thoughts. Bad thoughts there buddy.

Still though, that ass.

"Ow!" My perverted thinking was suddenly cut short when I felt an electric jolt ran down my spine that caused my entire body to jerk reflexively. It was like I had an electric current running through my body and I had to hold onto the nearest object to avoid falling down. I lean against the wall, using my hands to keep myself steady and shaking my head to recover from the sudden shock.

As for how and why that happened, there's only thing that came to mind.

' _Damn it Sheila! What was that for!?'_ I asked the perpetrator who basically tased me just now.

 **[Perversion countermeasure.]** The VI in my head simply replied. **[You asked me to do so whenever I detect a spike in your hormonal levels.]**

Oh right, I remembered that now.

Previously, I caught myself ogling at all the pretty ladies that came into the cafe and wanted a way to stop myself from doing it. Sheila then gave a suggestion that she could shock me whenever I ogle at girls or think perverted thoughts so I thought 'why not?' and went along with it.

I immediately regretted it when I experienced the shock for the first time. Thankfully, no one was around this time to see why I suddenly slumped against the wall so I don't have to explain just what the hell happened. I was really lucky all the other times as well since no one was paying attention to me when it happened.

As for how a little chip inside my brain can do something like that… do you know that the human body generates little amount of electricity on it's own? Sheila uses that electricity to recharge her own batteries and she would always have more than she needed stored away for emergency uses.

She basically uses the stored up power from her battery supply and sent a small jolt at me whenever I'm acting like a little perv.

She also neglected to mention that the electric shock is actually from a suicide function that she has until _after_ I experienced plenty of tasing. That function is mainly there just in case I ever ended up being captured by the enemy with no hope of escaping.

As for now that works, she uses all that energy stored up to fry herself as well as my brain to prevent any information leaks to the enemy.

It's scary as hell to know that she can kill me with a flip of a switch. It's also terrifying to think that she's using part of that function to stop me from fantasizing about girls.

Combat VI's are scary as hell man.

Still though, I'm a hormonal teenager for crying out loud. I should be able fantasize about whoever I want. It's all part of what being a man is all about! **(AN: No it's not.)**

 **[Do you wish for me to load 'MissSaggyTits .img'** **as a counter measure in the future? By my calculations, it's entirely more effective than the standard shock that I've been giving.]**

' _I'm sorry, please forgive me.'_ I begged pitifully after she mentioned that. Just mentioning her name is giving me PTSD flaskbacks of the strip club. Oh god, the horror, the sagginess.

I quickly went back to the stove and proceed to make the pancakes in order to keep myself busy. Cooking always does wonders in helping me relax and not think of horrifying images forged from Satan's anus. While doing so, I ask Sheila some questions regarding her method of stopping me from being a pervert. _'Hey Sheila, isn't there a better way to_ _do this_ _? I mean, I am a healthy_ _young_ _male after all and sometimes_ _I just can't_ _help it._ _There's also the fact that_ _I really dislike pain_ _so if there's a way to stop me aside from shocking me, I'd really appreciate it_ _.'_

 **[If you'd like, I can completely clamp down on the part of your brain that's responsible for the human reproduction instincts. It will eliminate your desire to mate with the opposite sex and free more processing power for me to focus on other tasks instead of constantly checking on your hormones levels.]**

' _Wait! Hold up a minute there. So, you're basically going to make me asexual because it'll be more convenient for you?'_

 **[Yes.]** Sheila simply answered. **[Would you like me to do so now?]**

' _I'll...keep that option in mind...are there any other options?'_ I answered warily, hoping that I don't say anything that would lead her into suggesting even more absurd things.

 **[I can lower the output of the shocks if you want.]** Sheila suggested nonchalantly.

' _You can do that!? How come you never told me!?'_

 **[** **You never asked.** **]** Is that a hint of smugness that I detect in her synthetic voice? Ugh, she's just like my sister. No wonder why she's named after that cheeky little brat.

Anyway, while I was busy talking with Sheila, I didn't forget to work on the pancakes. So far, I only managed to make a few pieces and I have no idea just how many I can make with the amount of pancake mix that I have. There will probably be a bit more than I originally intended to make but I suppose I can give Amber more than usual to balance it out. The little girl eats a lot too but that's because she's still a growing child and she needs her nutrients.

It wasn't long before I heard something beeping outside, telling me that the coffee machine has done it's duty. I turn off the fire to the stove so that the pancake that was on it doesn't burnt and head towards the bar. From what I can see when I walked out of the kitchen, Summer was still dozing off on the table and will still be for the foreseeable future unless I get some caffeine into her system.

I reached the machine and took out a cup and a saucer from the cupboard above me. I grab hold of the jug in the machine that has the coffee and pour it into the cup. I stopped when the cup is about 8/10 full and place the jug back into the machine.

Then, I kneel down and opened the mini fridge placed underneath the bar counter. I took out the cream as well as a bar of chocolate from the fridge before I closed the door with my foot.

I poured the cream until the cup is almost full and place it aside. I used a teaspoon to stir the two substance together carefully so that it doesn't spill over. I watch as the steam rises from the cup while the black liquid changes it's color to milky brown. And last but not least, I added a piece of chocolate into the drink as the finishing touches.

And there we have it, a cup of coffee that's sweet with a bit of cocoa flavor; just the way Summer likes it.

I took the coffee and head over to where Summer is, easily balancing the cup in my hand as I walked due to years of practice. I'm actually pretty confident that I can run around while holding onto a cup filled with water without spilling a single drop but I'm not stupid enough to try it.

I place the drink on the table a bit away from where Summer's sleeping and gave the table a soft knock to wake her up. If that failed, I would've give her shoulder a gentle shake. If that failed as well…, let's just say my methods will undoubtedly get more interesting.

We didn't have anything urgent that needed doing today so I'll let her wake up in her own pace. But if we were in a hurry and needed to wake her up in the shortest amount of time possible, all I need to do is shove a cookie into her mouth. The effect is almost instantaneous and she would be wide awake while nibbling on the treat in her mouth.

But it would seem that I didn't need to resort to any of my other methods of waking Summer up today as she started to rouse from her slumber with just the table knocking. She started with a small jerk the moment my knuckles met the wooden surface of the table. Then, she slowly raised her head and noticed the cup of coffee in front of her with half-lidded and bleary eyes.

The girl reach her hand out to grabbed her drink by the saucer before she dragged it over towards her end of the table. She sat back up with her back leaning against the chair and proceeds to wraps both her hands around the cup. I can tell that she's clearly enjoying the warmth of her drink as she has a small yet sleepy looking smile on her face as she exhaled a very pleased sounding sigh with her eyes closed.

"Careful now, it's hot." I gave her a small warning like always so she doesn't get hurt. But I suppose that my warning is quite pointless since she has her Aura to protect her from being scorched by the hot liquid. But still, it doesn't mean she can't feel the heat from the drink. And from the other times that I saw her sleepily drinking coffee while it's still very hot, I can tell that it can be quite uncomfortable.

The girl paid my warning no heed like I had expected (not sure why I bother at this point) and slowly raise the cup to her lip. She then took a sip without even blowing at it first. Predictably, she visibly winched as the steaming liquid entered her mouth but she gulped it down immediately after.

After that, she place the cup down, almost missing the saucer had I not move it over to where she was lowering the cup towards. Summer's head then droop and raise lazily as if unable to decide whether she should be awake or asleep right now, both hands still clinging onto the cup for it's warmth. "'hanks." The redhead managed to mutter out; whether she's thanking me for the coffee or adjusting the saucer is unknown but I accepted her thanks nonetheless with a wry smile. This sort of behavior from Summer isn't that odd for me since I'm more than used to her behavior during her waking up period.

I also knew that her first sip is always to start up her systems and it goes by rather slowly at first. I'd give her 10 to 15 minutes before she's fully awake and functional. During the start up process, she'll also automatically drink the rest of her coffee while enjoying the sweet flavor that she's so fond of, something that's she's doing right now.

I watch as Summer took another sip and place the cup back down with a pleasant sigh, a small and satisfied smile was present on her face when she finished taking a sip.

She didn't winch this time as she's more prepared to take in the heat of the beverage.

I noticed that Summer's eyes had been closed since she had taken her first sip of her coffee and I move my hand in front of her face and started waving. Unsurprisingly, I got no response from her that indicates that she noticed the appendage moving in front of her.

I let my hand back down and watch in amusement as Summer raise the cup to her lips again, completely unaware or uncaring of what's happening in her surrounding.

It should be known that sleepy Summer is not fun to tease because you can't get much of a reaction out of her in that state. Cute, yes, but not as fun as when she's fully awake.

But, just because I can't tease her doesn't mean I can't do anything else to her. At times like these, is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of her unresponsive state and do things to her that I normally can't do. Best of all, she'll offer no resistance at all while I do them as well as being unable to remember anything that happened during her boot up sequence.

Wow, that sounded rather dirty for some reason.

Anyway, I can balance things on top of her head and stack them up to see how high was the limit before it came tumbling down; drew on her face; place the fake mustache on her face and give her funny hair styles that she wouldn't notice until she saw herself on the mirror. There's actually a small list of things that I've managed to do to her when she's in her sleepy state but that's a story for another time.

There's so many things that I want to try out but I don't think I would ever get the chance to do so anymore since today's Summer's last day working here.

I frowned when I recalled that particular tidbit. So today is going to be my last chance huh…well, there's this thing that I really wanted to try but never got the guts to before so I might as well tick it off my list right now.

I slowly raise my hand and place it lightly on top of the girl's head, noting just how smooth her hair is. As I've expected, she didn't respond to the hand on top of her head and remained completely immersed in her own world. I started rubbing her head gently, something I'd do when I'm praising my younger siblings back when we were just children.

And with this simple act, I can finally tick 'pat Summer' off my to do list.

Surprisingly, Summer's reaction to me stroking her head was not something that I expected and it left me somewhat dumbfounded. She seem to be leaning against my hand to get more out of my patting while emitting a very pleased sounding hum. It's almost as if she's purring.

Is she doing it unconsciously? Does that means that she enjoys being patted on the head?

There are a lot of questions popping into my mind right now but there is one thing that I'm completely certain of despite the odd situation I find myself in. It's that I feel kinda happy, even though I don't know why.

Is this what it's like to have a daughter to spoil?

I continue to caress Summer's head while trying to figure out the cause of the happy feeling that I'm getting. Could it be because she looks absolutely adorable the way she is right now? Sadly, I didn't have the time to figure it out because I heard the sound of someone knocking on the window at the front of the cafe.

I look over and saw that Amber had arrived at some point during my head patting session and was waving at me to get my attention like she would every time she came over to work.

I waved back at her with my free hand to show that I saw her. I noticed that the door's locked, probably by Summer when she entered, so that means that Amber can't get in right now. As for how Summer entered on her own, she has her own key to this place.

I guess this means that I'll need to head over there and unlock the door for Amber. That also meant that I need to stop patting Summer just so I can head over there to get the door for the brown haired child. I really don't want to stop patting Summer since I won't be able to do it anymore but I suppose there's not much choice for me in that matter.

Feeling rather dejected, I started to lift my hand away from Summer's head but something stopped me. My hand stopped short a few millimeters away from Summer's head as I felt something small and thin wrapped itself around my ring finger. My dejection was easily swapped with confusion and I look down to see just what it was.

You know how Summer's head usually have a piece of her hair that's always standing and moving around according to her emotions like some kind of tail? Well, it just wrapped itself around my finger, effectively stopping me from lifting my hand away from her head.

Thinking that I could seeing thing, I use my free hand to rub my eyes before looking back at my hand again. Summer's ahoge was still there, wrapped around my finger.

I have seen a lot of things since I came to Remnant but what I saw before me can easily be ranked one of the top ten weirdest. Hmm, maybe it just got entangled on my finger when I was busy patting Summer. It's not like her hair just moved on it's own to stop me from lifting my hand now right?

I began to move my hand away slowly to see if I can get away from it but Summer's ahoge seem to have other ideas and tightened itself around my finger. I swear to god I can actually feel it pulling my hand back to her head. A small piece of hair, pulling with enough strength to yank my hand back onto Summer's head. Just what the heck is going on here!?

Then it started dragging my hand across Summer's head just like how I did when I was stroking her.

Is- is it trying to tell me not to stop?

I'm growing more and more convinced by the second that Summer's ahoge is actually alive. Either that or Summer's the one who subconsciously didn't want me to stop.

Another about of knocking reminded me that Amber's still outside and I'm starting to feel worried. I needed to move away in order to open the door but Summer's ahoge is stopping me. I'm worried that if I tried to force my hand away it might hurt Summer in the process because I'll be pulling her hair.

I wanted to see if I can loosen it somewhat so I started rubbing the ahoge with my thumb in hopes that it'll do something.

The piece of hair suddenly shivered as if it's ticklish and slacken it's hold on my finger.

Not questioning just why on earth would hair feel ticklish, I quickly pull my hand away. It would seem that Summer could sense that something was missing because she just emitted a rather sad sounding whine the moment I pulled my hand away. Her ahoge seem to be affected by how she was feeling as well because it just drooped listlessly on top of her head like it had just lost all of it's energy.

I could only stare at the sleepy looking girl who's still quietly drinking her coffee as if nothing happened with confusion in my mind before I shook it off and move towards where Amber was.

Okay, I've decided. Let's just pretend the entire head patting thing never happened and how Summer's ahoge tried to keep me from leaving.

I opened the door and Amber came hopping in while a bright smile on her face. "Good afternoon Amber." I greeted her with a small smile, thinking about just how energetic this child is.

"Good evening!" She greeted back as she shot her hand up into the air, giggling all the while. This little fella started copying my way of greeting people after she heard me the first time around. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing but at least she only does so with the people working at the cafe. I don't want her mother asking me just why her daughter is greeting people wrongly after she started working here.

"Oh, hello there." I called out to the giant Bear Faunus standing outside the door and he replied with his usual grunt greeting before heading to his post outside.

We've set up a table and chair out there for Bear guy to sit as he waits for Amber to end her shift. We've even installed a small portable fan as well as a large umbrella on the table for him because it'll be completely cruel of us to make him to sit out there under the blazing sun with nothing to keep him cool.

Anyway, after Bear guy's no longer blocking the door, I can see the rooftop where the sniper's usually at and gave a wave towards his direction.

I refer the sniper as a he because it's more convenient for me. I saw him once or twice when he came over and I have no clue if the sniper is actually a dude or a chick because he wears a black full body hi-tech stealth suit along with a full face helmet with a tinted visor attached. There's also the fact that he has a very ambiguous figure that made him look like a dude at some angles and a chick at others so yeah, I'm just going to go with male until proven otherwise just to be safe.

I got a flash of his scope in return, indicating that he saw me.

At least the Sniper is friendly. Not sure if the flash was from he greeting me back or if he's just adjusting his aim towards me though.

And if you're wondering just why Bear guy is outside instead of being in the cafe to watch over Amber, the only thing I have to say is because he's forbidden to enter. Now one would normally think that it's strange for a bodyguard to be separated from the person he should be protecting but it's not like he had a choice in that matter. He isn't allowed inside because he scare the customers and because of that Aunt May just wouldn't allow him in no matter what.

He actually tried to go against Aunt May's request for him to stay outside when he first appeared.

Emphasis on tried.

When he made it very clear that he's not going to leave the girl's side, Aunt May went to the kitchen and came back with a wooden ladle that somehow managed to sent shivers down my spine the moment I laid eyes on it. It's like the wooden utensil was emitting some kind of bloodlust that won't be sedated until it hears the dying screams of it's enemies.

She then proceeds to beat the crap out of him with said ladle mercilessly. Summer and I were huddled together in the corner, both feeling utterly terrified of the woman while Amber was clapping her hands excitedly while watching the beat down the entire time.

As scary as the big man was, Aunt May is scarier.

After she was done dealing with the man twice her size, she went outside and proceeds to throw the demonic ladle at the sniper's direction. The wooden utensil flew like, a mile per second and we all heard the sound of something being hit echoing from the distance as well as a very faint cry of pain that followed.

Good god, that woman is terrifying. How did she even know that there was a sniper there?

But after seeing how pitiful Amber's bodyguards were after her trashing, Aunt May decided to compromise by setting the table and chair outside and stated that Amber will be safe as long as she's in the cafe so he just needs to wait outside until Amber's shift ended. Bear guy realized that he really can't beat her so he just sulkily accepts this and headed out to nurse his wounds and ego.

So much for being badass bodyguards. Then again, I can understand his reluctance to face off against a vastly superior opponent.

With him always being stationed outside, customers just thinks he's the cafe's security guard, here to protect the place from any gangs or ruffians that thought it would be a good idea to cause trouble in this place.

If anything, they're the ones that needs to be protected from Aunt May if they tried anything.

On a completely unrelated note, the Sniper comes by to pick up his lunchbox whenever it's ready.

"So, how are you today Amber?" I asked the energetic girl once I'm done greeting Bear guy and the Sniper.

"I'm great!" She replied with a smile. Her entire body seem to be brimming with the kind of energy that one would only find in children.

I smiled back and planted my hand on top of her head and started ruffling her hair.

Amber tried to escape from my head patting with a squeal, struggling for a brief moment before being able to give me the slip. She hopped back a step and shot me her meanest glare she could muster as both her hands reach up and examine her hair that had became a jumbled mess because of me. "No! Bad big bro. I just finished combing my hair not long ago and now I have to do it again. It's very hard you know." She informed me in annoyance as her hands comb through her hair to fix them.

I chuckled in return but that only seem to make her madder.

"Alright, alright. Calm down and come here. I'll help you fix them." I told the fuming child, gesturing for her to come over. She look at me with a bit of distrust, not really sure if I'm actually going to help her or just luring her over just so I can continue ruffling her hair. I can tell that she's very skeptical of me right now since I've offered to fix her hair plenty of times before but I mostly ended up ruffling her hair even more instead. It's not my fault that she kept accepting my offer like the naive little child that she is.

But eventually, after a few moments of contemplating, she decided to let me fix her hair for her and came over despite the risk of her falling victim of more head patting. It might have something to do with the fact that I was waving a piece of sweet in my hand that I got from my pockets.

I handed her the sweet the moment she got close and told her to turn around so I can comb her frizzy hair down with a spare comb that I have on hand for situations like these. "Remember, don't eat it until after breakfast." I reminded the brown haired girl as my hands went to work, easily smoothing out her hair through practiced motion.

"Kay~" She replied with a quick nod, her short hair slipped away from my fingers as she did so.

"Good then. But, if I catch you sneaking in any sweets during your meal, I'll have to punish you." I informed her with a smile, earning a very frightened and audible gulp from the child. It might be because I have 'punished' her before and the memory of said punishment still runs fresh in her mind. I'm using the word 'punish' very loosely here because all I did was forbid her from eating sweets. I don't really think that's much of a punishment but hey, it works.

"And we're done." I announced as I did one final comb to straighten the last of the extremely stubborn stray hair on her head and now the girl looks just as she was when she came in.

Amber went to pat her hair to see whether or not I was telling the truth and was visibly surprised to find her hair in perfect order. "Wow, that's so fast." She exclaimed in awe. "How can you fix it so fast big bro? It always takes me a while to get my hair done and I always have to ask mum for help when they get tangled." She asked while hopping on her feet, eager to get my secret technique of hair combing for herself.

"I have lots of practice." I simply answered her with a smirk, thinking back on all the times that I have to comb my little sisters' hairs because I just can't say no to their demands.

Fixing messy bedheads is something that I've been doing for them ever since they grew up enough to care about their appearances. It was a complete nightmare for me back then as I have completely no idea what I was suppose to do when they came to me asking if I could comb their hair for them for the very first time. I never even combed my own hair before and yet they're asking me to comb theirs for them.

The first few times that I've tried were….very interesting… and painful for both me and my sisters as they would scratch me with their nails whenever I accidentally pulled their hair too hard.

Being the eldest is never easy I tell you. All your younger siblings will think that you know the answer to everything simply because you're the oldest. Thankfully, they learned to do it on their own when they got older so I no longer needed to; but the experience that I've gained in combing their hairs back then never faded.

With Amber's hair fixed, there shouldn't be any more problems for me to deal with here so I jerked my thumb towards the kitchen. "Alright then, you know what to do; go get changed and get ready for breakfast."

Amber's expression quickly morphed into one of delight at the mere mention of breakfast and nodded quickly. "Okay." She managed to blurted out before she spun on her heels and zip into the kitchen at breakneck speed. I think I can see her afterimage lingering behind where she once stood for a brief second before it vanishes.

I watch her go with an amused smile on my face as I shook my head slightly. Ah kids these days, already breaking the laws of reality with their youthful energy.

I was about to head back into the kitchen to continue with the breakfast preparation but the ringing of the door bell stopped me. I quickly turn around to see who just entered and blinked when I saw a pair of yellow eyes meeting mine. A second later, I realized that I'm looking at the eyes of a teenage girl with a pair of cat ears on top of her head that just twitched when it heard the sound of the door closing. Cat ears...so fluffy. Must, resist, touching.

And as for why she entered the building even though it's clearly not open for business yet, it's probably because she works here.

Oh right, I need to greet her before she wonders just why I'm staring at her ears. "Good afternoon, Curry." I greeted the teen.

The girl in questioned made an expression of a defeated person before offering a very small smile in response and greeted back. "Good morning to you too, Alex." Hmm, I don't know if it has something to do with how she's feeling but her ears drooped a little bit just now when I greeted her. Maybe it had something to do with how I keep saying her name wrongly after all this time.

Anyho, she is the newest member of the group that I've mentioned before, the one who will eventually replace Summer's position as waitress once she left. Like Summer and Amber, she only comes by during the weekends to help out since that's the time with the highest amount of customers.

Curry is a cat Faunus. I'm pretty sure that her cat ears are a dead giveaway already but I'm telling you this now just in case. It's very hard to tell the difference between a cat Faunus and a fox Faunus since their ears are somewhat similar looking. I accidentally thought a fox Faunus was a cat one and got called a racist in return when I asked if he's a cat. Apparently, there are more ways to tell what kind of species a Faunus is other than looking at their extra appendages.

Anyway, Curry has medium length black hair and pale white skin. Her entire attire can be considered as traditional-ish Japanese clothing back in my world.

She's wearing a white haori, and if you want to have some inking of what it looked like, it's something that looks like a shirt and a robe got drunk one night and decided to have child together. To put it on, your wrap it around you body and tie it with some kind of string. It kinda like a buttoned shirt but without the buttons.

Anyway, she wore her haori over a black hakama; just imagine a trouser and dress hybrid that's tied around the waist and her footwear consist of black sandals and white socks. She gave me the impression of a shrine priestess when we first met to be honest.

Slinging over her shoulder is her handbag. It's a bag with black and white stripes as it's initial design and a cute cat paw sticker was present at the side of the bag. I don't know what the inside of said bag contains but I do know that she has a notebook tuck safely away in there. As for how I knew that, I frequently found her jotting something down on it with a serious look on her face before stuffing it back into her bag.

Whenever I asked what she's writing, she would always find a way to avoid telling me with excuses and shifting of subjects and she looked very panicked all the while. Curious, most curious indeed.

As for how we first met, remember the time when I first met what's his face on my first day here and I was serving a very cute girl with cat ears? That's Curry.

She also came by quite frequently as well but I never really made any mention of it because I thought she was just a regular customer. We usually just chatted about various topics whenever she pops in for a drink and I learned over time that she's a very optimistic person who wishes for the Humans and Faunus to coincide.

Maybe she thought I would be a great friend because I gave my view on how stupid the entire 'my race is better than yours' thing is when we first met.

"I see that Summer has arrived already." Curry noted as her gaze landed on the figure of our resident redhead who's still quietly sipping her coffee. Her ahoge seem to be waving at our general direction as if saying hello to Curry.

I noticed that Summer's cup was almost finished, meaning that it won't be long now before she's fully functional again. "It's always interesting to see her in that state." Curry commented with a light giggle and I wholeheartedly agree with her. I kept that fact to myself of course, I'm not stupid enough to blurt that out.

"Amber just got here as well and is changing upstairs right now. Can you go and lend her a hand just in case? I still have to get breakfast ready and I need to finish it soon if so we would have enough time to eat before the shop opens." I requested and Curry nodded dutifully.

"Of course. I'll come and help you after we're both done changing." She told me before heading off to find Amber.

"Thanks, that'll be a great help." I told her as she left. Such a nice girl Curry is. She's been a great help ever since she joined. While she was awkward and unsure of what to do at first, she eventually learned how to get things done with a bit of guidance from me and Summer so we can rely on her on many things now.

Anyway, over the course of a few weeks, I've had learned that she wasn't originally from Vale but moved here because of her family's occupation. She's from some place called Menagerie, I think. It must be tough for the poor girl, having to leave all her friends behind to come to some place that she had never been to before. The only good thing for her about the entire arrangement is that it only lasts for a few years and she and her family will be able to go back once they're done here.

I have no idea why she would want to work here and why Aunt May decided to hire her in the first place but she did say she had her reasons when I asked. I didn't pry after that because it would be really impolite to do so as we only known each other for a short while then. It's also because I don't want to be dragged into other people's problems when I already have my own set of troubles to deal with.

I probably won't be able to stop myself from offering to help if she told me some sob story that lead to her current circumstances. Well, she looked rather well off so it shouldn't be money problems that lead her here but then again, looks can be deceiving and she can easily hide that fact by wearing that only set of clean clothes that she have.

I watched as Curry's retreating figure disappeared into the kitchen and I purse my lips to the side while rubbing my chin in thought. Hmm, I dunno why but she keeps reminds me of someone else if I look at her at certain angles. Not sure who but there's the sense of familiarity there. Hmm, must be the ears.

Oh well, that isn't important right now and it's best to leave idle thoughts for when I'm free. For now, I need to finish up breakfast so we won't have to work on empty stomachs.

"Mmmmm..." It looks like a certain someone is done with her coffee and is waking up as well. I turn my attention to where the sound was coming from and I saw that Summer was stretching her limbs while remaining seated.

"Finally awake eh, Summer?" I said to her with a smirk.

"Yeah….what did I miss this time?" She asked in a faint and tired voice while rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, nothing much. There's Amber being Amber, Bear guy being grumpy and Curry just arrived so you've missed her by 20 seconds the very least." I informed her and left out the fact at that I took advantage of her sleepy state and patted her head for obvious reasons.

"Curry? The dish grew legs and walked on it's own?" She mumbled out drowsily.

"Come on Summer, you know who I'm talking about." I said as I rolled my eyes in amusement. It looks like she's still not with us yet. Odd, she should've be fully awoken after she finishes her coffee. Did she stay up late last night?

Summer press her index finger against her temple and tilt her head slightly to the side as she starts to think. "Curry...Cury...Karie...Oh! Kali." Summer exclaimed as she finally remembered the name of her co-worker that she had been working with for the past few weeks.

Oh right, Curry's actually name is Kali. I just keep calling her Curry ever since she introduced herself because they sounded so similar and because it's fun. Kali had given up on correcting me quite a while ago as well.

"Oh dear, that's quite cruel of you to forget the name of someone who's been with us for weeks Summer." I snickered as I walk towards the kitchen.

"Hey! In my opinion, you're the one that's cruel since you never got her name right." Summer got up from her seat and tried to justify herself. "How was I suppose to know that you were talking about Kali when you're calling her curry. The first thing that would came to my mind when you mentioned curry will be the dish, not a person." She said as she waved her hands in the air as if trying to get her point across. Heh, there's nothing like the usual banter war to get her worked up and awake again.

"So you're telling me that you'll always think of food first before anything else? My, my, such a greedy girl you are Summer." I stopped to tease while shooting her a smug look.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Summer fumed while shooting back a half-hearted glare.

"So what's gotten into you today? Usually you'll be right up after drinking your coffee." I asked in curiosity.

Upon hearing my question, Summer looked somewhat hesitant in answering me at first but she eventually told me after a slight pause. "I got caught up watching a series' finale last night and forgot to check time. By the time it finished the clock already struck midnight." She explained as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"I see..." I said, clearly understanding what it felt like since I pulled an all-nighter before just to finish a series that I found on Netflix. "Was it a good series?" I asked, feeling interested in just what kind of shows this world have to offer. I've never really checked for any TV programs in Remnant before because I've always been busying myself with work, playing with Amber and teasing Summer just to keep myself from being bored. There's really nothing much to do here other than those so maybe finding a good series to watch can help with that.

"Duh, of course it was. If it weren't I wouldn't have stayed up all night to watch it." Summer told me as if stating the obvious.

"What's it about then? If it managed to hold your attention for so long then it must be something good." I asked, my curiosity of this world's TV series grew even more as I thought of the many kind of movies that could exist in this world.

Do they even have cinemas here? Just what kind of movies would the people in this world make anyway? My best guess is that they would make movies about heroes saving the day to encourage kids to be Huntsmen in the future but other than that, I have absolutely no clue.

Summer opened her mouth to speak but caught herself at the last moment and slam it shut. I dunno why but she looked a bit panicky with a bit of reddish hue on her cheeks before she avert eye contact with me.

"I'm not telling you." She suddenly said, her face clearly has a light blush on it.

"What? Why not?" I questioned while rising my eyebrow, feeling rather intrigued by her sudden change in behavior. Just what's gotten her like this anyway? All I did was ask what kind of show she watched.

"I'm just not." Summer said, clearly not going to elaborate any further as she cross her arms in front of her chest with a huff while still not looking at me.

"Oh come on. It's not like you're watching some cheesy romance drama or somethin-" I stopped what I was about to say next when I barely caught Summer flinching at the mention of 'cheesy romance drama' and she swung her head in my direction with her eyes widen in what appears to be panic.

What's with that reaction?

I thought about it for a bit before I came to a stunning conclusion as all the information that I have about Summer's sudden change in behavior piled up together and formed one, very simple answer.

"No way..." I uttered out in shock and realization as my eyes slowly widen as well. Could it be that I hit the mark just now? Now that I'm looking at her more closely, I can see that the edges of her eyes were a bit puffy and red like she had cried the night before.

Summer noticed that I was staring at her and quickly looked away with a blush. She squirmed uncomfortably on the spot under my incredulous stare as her eyes continuously darts towards and away from mine every time our eyes met like she's too shy to look at me properly. Though I must admit, she looked rather cute right now. Eventually, she couldn't take the weird silence that we had unknowingly descended into anymore and spoke up. "What? What's wrong with liking cheesy romance drama?" She said a bit heatedly and with a tinge of embarrassment lanced in her voice as she spoke to defend her taste in movie genre.

I quickly backpedaled to create more distance between us and I raised my hand in a placating manner while my mind was racing a mile a minute to think of something to say that won't get her any angrier. I can't tell why but I could sense some kind of animosity coming from the redhead that just spells bruised shoulder if I said something wrong to set her off. "No, there's nothing wrong with that. it's just-" I paused to think of an appropriate word to say that won't lead to me experiencing painful body parts. "-an unexpected surprise. I always thought that you'd be the type to love action movies instead."

"While it's true that I enjoy action movies but I'm still a girl you know. Is it really that much of a surprise for me to enjoy romance movies as well?" Summer fumed indignantly as she turn to look at me with a very irritated yet embarrassed looking expression plastered on her face.

My only response was to make a very nervous side glance because I suddenly felt very guilty. I more or less stopped seeing Summer as a girl after spending so much time with her and started viewing her as more of a moe stress relief. "Sorry about that, I kinda forgot you were a girl for a bit." I apologized as sincerely as I could while I scratch my cheek sheepishly.

I promptly froze when I realized what I've just said. I basically just told her that I didn't see her as a girl didn't I? Hoo boy, I can't imagine any girl would enjoying being told that.

I slowly turn my head back to gauge Summer's reaction and true enough, she didn't like what she'd heard. Her shoulder's were visibly shaking while and there was a dark shadow being cast over her eyes as her hands clenched tightly.

"Ho~ Just what's that suppose to mean?" She asked in a very sweet tone that fooled no one as she looked at me in the eye. There was a dangerous glint present in those silver iris of hers that made me feel very afraid of what's to come. She started to move, slowly stalking closer towards me while I started to move backwards with each step she took.

Panicking and at a loss of what to do to calm the approaching demoness, I just ran my mouth without thinking. "W-well, It's just that you rarely act like a girl and-" I instantly clamp it back shut and place my hands over them when I heard what I've just said. God damn it brain! Why are you so useless when you're panicking!?

 **[I would offer you a shovel, but you seem to be doing a very fine job yourself already. This wouldn't have happened if you didn't turn off the emotion suppression you know.]**

' _Not now Sheila. And stop being so smug.'_

"Oh really? So you're saying that I've never been like a girl to you at all?" Summer asked with a very sweet and innocent smile that looked very out of place with the murderous aura surrounding her. I felt my back touch the wall and I paled considerably as I realised that I just ran out of places to back up to and walked myself into a dead end while the redhead is getting closer and closer.

"Aren't you being too self-cautious about this?" I couldn't help but voice out in the face of impending death (read: sore shoulders).

"No I'm not! It's perfectly normal for a girl to be upset about this." Summer replied instantly as she stood before me. Because of our slight height difference, she had to look up bit and I had to look down as well so that our eyes would meet. But by doing so, her face was place mere inches away from mine because of our close proximity. She glaring as angrily as she could at me while pouting and I think I can feel her breath touching my lips due to how close we are.

Normally, this would be a very embarrassing position for both of us to be in but Summer's too mad to realize it and I'm too afraid for my life to care.

Thankfully, a divine intervention occurred that would save me from this hole that I dug myself into as Kali suddenly poked her head through the kitchen door, causing both of us to look over to her when we heard the sound of the door opening.

The cat girl had already changed into her work uniform which is basically a french maid uniform with inverted color scheme as well as a blue apron. Like always, the color of the uniform and apron doesn't really mash that well.

A pair of yellow eyes shifted from me to Summer, noting just how close we are before her lips twitched upwards. "Are you two still flirting?" She simply asked the both of us with an amused expression on her face.

""We are/ We're not."" We both answered at the same time, I answered with a bit of relief for being saved while Summer answered with a perfect deadpan, already used to people asking if we were flirting.

Amber decided to pop out from the kitchen as well, donned in her very own uniform which is the panda suit that she wore when she first started working here. It was a unanimous decision among all of us that Amber's uniform is to be the panda suit. It serves to amplify her cuteness as well as drawing more customers into the shop to witness the adorable ball of energy running around the place, trying to help out with the chores.

Amber walked up to me and tug the helm of my shirt to get my attention. "Big bro, is breakfast ready yet?" She asked impatiently. "It's getting late already." She informed me and my eyes widen and quickly snapped towards the clock on the wall.

It reads 6:30.

The shop usually opens at 7:00.

"Oh crud! Curry, help me with the cooking!" I quickly asked the raven haired cat girl as I move past Amber and Summer and head straight towards the kitchen to finish making the pancakes. Kali just nodded dutifully and followed me into the kitchen. Summer and Amber is already familiar with what they needed to do in preparation for the start of the day so I didn't need to tell them what to do and can leave them to their own devices.

Summer still looked peeved about the whole not a girl thing so I hope that delicious food will be able to calm her down somewhat so that she'll forgive me.

All in all, it looks like we're going to be opening late again today.

 **-0-**

Like I've expected, it been decided that we're opening late today.

The one who decided that was none other than our boss who came back not moments after I rushed into the kitchen and found out that breakfast wasn't even ready yet.

Aunt May didn't even care about the people that's already gathered outside in anticipation for the cafe to open so they could get their usual morning coffee. She just hush the girls back into the kitchen to wait for me and Kali to finish up breakfast. She even told us to take our time and enjoy the food once we were done cooking too. It would seem that eating a delicious meal is more important than her own business but hey, it's her own cafe so she can do whatever she wants as long as I get paid.

Normally, the customers would be banging on the windows like the mindless caffeine zombies that they are right about now, but having Bear guy outside changed that because his intimidating presence alone will discourage anyone from trying. The weekends have actually became quite relaxing for me now that we have something to ward off the zombie horde.

Anyway, with Kali's help, we managed to finish up cooking breakfast in record time while Amber and Summer set the table for us.

Because Amber and Kali is part of the team now, they get their own set plates, bowls and of eating utensils so we could easily tell apart which ones belongs to who. Amber got hers in a brown set while Kali's set is black. Summer showed off her own red ones with cookie patterns rather proudly when they both got theirs and mine isn't really worth mentioning as I just took whatever was on hand and made it mine. It's white, just in case you wanted to know.

Anyway, with the table set and food cooked, everyone aside from me was seated on the table and already eating their meal with gusto. I, however, was standing to the side with a plate filled with food in my hand and the lunchbox on the other. I need to deliver these outside for Bear guy and the sniper and while I'm at it, I was thinking of making myself some coffee to go along with my breakfast.

I was about to head out but stopped and thought to myself whether or not I should make something for the others as well. Hmmm….oh well, I'm going to make my own anyway so I might as well make theirs while I'm at it.

"Hey everyone," I called out to get the attention of everyone on the table. Four heads turn to look at me, one of which had a piece of pancake hanging out of her mouth as she continues to chew and stain her mouth with maple syrup, completely uncaring of her own appearances. I'll let you guess who that is. "I'm going to go make something to drink, do you all want something as well?" I asked them as I jerked my head towards where the bar was at.

Summer quickly raise her hand to get my attention and I nodded at her for her to go ahead while noting that her mood is undoubtedly better than before. Must be the food. "I want another cup of coffee please." She told me before looking to her left where Kali was seated next to her. "What about you Kali?"

"I'd like a glass of hot milk if you will." Kali requests politely, a stark contrast of how Summer ordered hers. Kali has always been kind and polite but I suspected that it's because she's still not quite familiar with everyone to act casually as she would with her close friends. She's only been working here for a while at most so that's pretty normal. We'll get there eventually but until then, I guess I'll just have to bear with how polite and reserved Kali always is.

"Oh oh, I want chocolate milkshake." Amber, who was seated to Summer's right, told me excitedly while waving her hand in the air to get my attention.

I frowned lightly, eyes narrowing at the brown haired girl's choice in mild disapproval. Mild, only because I understood that she's still a child and they have a hard time resisting sweet things. There's also the fact that it's hard to get mad at the chibi child. I wonder if that's why all children are so cute as it acts as a natural defense against crossed parents. "No Amber, It's too early for that. How about something else?" I told her, trying to dissuade her from taking in so many sweet things right when the day had just begun.

"But I want chocolate milkshake." Amber whined like the little child that she is and pouted cutely at me, lips purse outward with a slight quiver in disappointment while her eyes enlarge themselves noticeably with sparkles sprinkling all around her.

I recoiled as if I've been struck. Ugh, oh no. No that look again. I quickly look to the side to avoid having my heartstrings tugged by the puppy dog eyes that she had just unleashed. "No means no Amber." I told her steadfastly without looking back.

"Pleeeeeease?" She asked while stretching out the word.

I risked a quick glance back and by doing so, I noticed that Summer had her scroll out near her side as if showing it to Kali while looking at me with an amused smile. Kali was leaning over to look at Summer's scroll before her eyes widen slightly as if she just understood something and look towards me with the same amused expression that Summer has.

I was confused at their weird behavior but choose to focus on Amber instead for the time being.

That decision turned out to be the wrong choice because Amber was still looking at me with her signature puppy dog eyes and quivering pouty lips. I felt like my heart was struck by a sledgehammer when she looks at me that way. The panda suit that she wore only serve to make the blow even harder by amplifying her cuteness.

Unable to handle the extreme sadness radiating from the little girl any longer but still steadfastly didn't want her to eat unhealthily, I decided to settle on a compromise. "I'll tell you what, If you've been a good girl today and have been extremely helpful, I'll make you that chocolate milkshake tonight for dinner." I told her as I let loose a defeated sigh, not really sure why I even tried stopping Amber from getting what she wants since I always loses in the end.

Amber beamed at my words and gave a childish salute, trying to look serious but failing because of the maple syrup on her face. "Yes sir!" She chirped with a face full of smiles. Damn me and my inability to resist cute things.

"You're going to spoil her kiddo." May told me with an amused shake of her head from her spot next to Amber. "If you keep this up, she's going to grow up thinking she can get whatever she wants from you as long as she gives you the puppy dog eyes."

"Oh shush you. I don't see you stopping her." I told her as I gave her the stink eye at her half-hearted attempts to admonish me. "So, what do you want to drink Amber?"

"Hmmmm," She hummed as she raise her hand to her chin and began rubbing it in thought. I couldn't help but think to myself in amusement that's she's trying to mimic me in some way because the rubbing chin in deep thought is so my thing. Then, her eyes lit up and she smiled as she made her decision. "I want soda!" Amber cried out her choice of beverage to go along with her breakfast.

I withheld a grimace upon hearing her answer. Tch, soft drinks. A drink made from carbonated water filled with plenty of artificial flavoring and tons and tons of sugar. I have no idea why kids these days love to drink that kind of thing and I most likely never will mainly because I don't like it at all. Oh well, it's an improvement from chocolate milkshakes, albeit a very small one, so there's that at least. "I suppose you can drink that." I told her, earning a 'Yay!' from the child before I turn to the last person in the room who hasn't ordered hers yet.

"I want a can of cold beer from the fridge." She replied with a hungry gleam in her eyes.

"Don't drink so early in the morning Aunt May." I rebuked her half-heartedly since I know that it's pointless to do so.

"Ugh, I'm an adult and I can do whatever I want.' Said adult whined in dissatisfaction in the most childish way possible, crossing her arms and turning her cheek away from me with a huff. The other two girls watch the older woman's antics with a faint smile on their faces but not Amber, she already went back to demolishing her pancakes with extreme vigor.

I place a hand over my face as I felt a slowly budding headache at the back of my head. Sometimes I felt like I'm the only responsible adult in this household. "I'm not letting you get wasted so early in the morning, especially not today of all days. I don't know about you but I certainly remember the time when you drank too much with Junior's dad and got smashed." I told her as I let my hand down to give her a disapproving stare, memories of a drunken Aunt May that I've encountered that one time resurfaced into my mind.

It had happened one morning right after I took a shower. I walked out of the bathroom, feeling completely refreshed with only a towel wrapped around my waist and ready to start the day as soon as I put some clothes on.

Unexpectedly, I found Aunt May right outside the door. She was laying on the ground face-first with a beer bottle clutched in her hand and looking completely out of it.

I was unsure of what to make of the scene before me and could only raise a bemused eyebrow. Before I could say or do anything, Aunt May seem to have registered my presence and crank her neck upwards to see who's there.

Our eyes met and she saw me in my half naked state. As sad as it is for me to admit it, that's something that I don't have much of a problem with since there's nothing much of me to see.

She then let out a loud belch, made a rather lewd comment before slamming her face onto the floor and promptly passing out.

I had to dragged her back into her room and decided not to think too much of that incident afterwards, banishing it to the furthest reach of my mind because I don't want to deal with it at the time, or at all for that matter.

I only learned later that day when Junior came over and told me that Aunt May went over to their bar to have a quick chat with his dad over a few drinks that night. And by few drinks, he actually meant 5 gallons worth of expensive alcohol and by quick chat, he actually meant they spent the entire night drowning themselves in booze as they debated whether or not water is actually wet. According to Junior, they were very serious about it too.

We had to run the cafe with an extremely tight budget for a few weeks to pay for the beer.

"Fineeee. I'll behave today. Just get me something hot." Aunt May finally relented after a brief stare off with me as she pouted, clearly not happy with the outcome as she was denied the alcohol that she wanted.

"Alright then." I said as I nod to myself in satisfaction over my victory. "I guess that's all so no take backs. I'm not going to go all the way back to make you something else just because you're unsatisfied with what you've ordered." I warned the girls before I head out to make the drinks.

 **-0-**

I place a glass of bubbling strawberry soda in front of Amber from the tray in my hand. The little girl bounced on her seat giddily at the sight of her fuzzy beverage and immediately snatched it from the table and took one big gulp. Once she was done, she place the glass down and was about to wipe her mouth with her sleeve had I not stopped her. I quickly gave her my handkerchief and she used it to clean her mouth before giving me a cheerful thank you.

I place the tray to the side and sat down on my spot on the table which is between Amber and Aunt May. I've already gave everyone their drinks and they were already eating their food without any reservation the moment I walked outside to deliver food for Amber's bodyguards.

By the way, I also gave Bear guy a steaming mug of coffee as well as a few sets of the drink poured into paper cups so the sniper can pick it up whenever he wants. The sniper's job is harder than Bear guy's because he had to stay still and fully alert in one area for long periods of time so he deserves the extra coffee. Hopefully he would find the small patio umbrella that I found stored away in the storeroom to be useful in shielding him from the blazing sun. I never saw him use it though. But then again, he's very far away so unless I have my own pair of binoculars, being able to see the sniper is an impossible task.

I was about to dig in but stopped when I remembered something from earlier. "Hey Summer, what were you girls doing over there just now?" I asked curiously as I looked over to them.

Summer paused in the middle of raising her fork with a piece of pancake to her mouth before she turn to regard me with a thoughtful look. She place her fork down down on her plate to take out her Scroll and showed it to me.

The screen showed a very common stopwatch feature presented in every Scroll and it reads 35 seconds in the middle. Below it, there are several saved records that showed numbers that's progressively getting smaller the lower it goes. "35 seconds, that's a new record." Summer told me with a smile while Kali just giggled behind her hands.

Not understanding just what she was talking about, I could only offer a confused raise of my eyebrow. "A new record for what?" I asked, wondering just what it is that she's recording.

"A record for just how long it'll take before you cave in to Amber's demands." Summer informed me with a snicker that she didn't even bother to hide as she return her scroll to her pocket.

"Oh..." I let out, visibly deflating upon hearing her words. 35 seconds is all I can last against Amber's cuteness huh? I thought I could at least last longer than that.

"Oh come on Jerkface, at least try to say no to her." Summer chided me playfully while waving her fork at me.

"Tried that, doesn't work." I told her with a shake of my head. It's not like I never tried saying no to Amber. It's just whenever I tried saying those words, it just sorta turned into a yes mid-speech.

"You could try being stern with her when she's being unreasonable." Kali suggested, her right ear twitching in response to the sound of Amber burping from the soda. The little girl just giggled happily to herself when I shot her the stink eye at how ill-mannered she was.

"Ha! I highly doubt he could do that." Aunt May interjected all of the sudden with a laugh. "He'd rather let Amber have what she wants than being mean to her and with that personality of his, I can't imagine him being stern or strict at all. The boy just doesn't have it in him. He's just too kind for his own good, if a bit lazy. I mean, have you ever seen him getting angry before?" She told the girls with a knowing smile, earning nods from Summer as she has the most experience with me and a thoughtful look from Kali.

"That's so not true. I totally can be mean if I wanted to." I insisted, mainly because I didn't want to appear as a complete pushover. But it appears that no one believed me as Kali just gave me a gentle smile while Summer grinned at me. Their twinkling eyes clearly conveyed their thoughts about what I've just said.

Aunt May however, regarded me with a very amused look. "Oh really?" She said. "Try it then, I dare you. Hit me with an insult, the best that you've got." Aunt May grinned as she challenged me. That got both the girl's attention because both they sat up straighter and started staring at me attentively, Kali looked on with interest while Summer stared in anticipation, both not really knowing what to expect from me. Amber wasn't paying even the slightest attention to us because she's too busy trying to separate her bacon from the broccoli.

I gulped and shrink under the pressure of the girls' expecting gazes while my mind was racing to think of the worst insult possible to lunch at Aunt May. Sadly, I'm drawing blanks because I don't function well under pressure. It's also why I live my life in a laid back manner to avoid generating stress, something that I absolutely loath.

Knowing that I can't think of anything smart at the moment and that I was taking too long, I just said whatever would spew out of my mouth while thinking about the most annoying person that I've met thus far whose name I can't remember. "May your headphones snag on every door handle." I told her while trying to keep a straight face.

Aunt May just blinked and stare at me in silence as if processing what I've just said. It took few seconds but she eventually spoke. "That...has got to be the most polite yet humorous insult that I've ever heard. I'm not sure if I should feel offended or amused." She stated, causing both Summer and Kali to giggled to the side. "Can it even be counted as an insult at all I wonder?" May added as an afterthought.

"You asked for an insult and I delivered. Not my fault that it came out like that." I crossed my arms in front of my chest and started glowering in embarrassment and Summer just laughed harder at the face that I'm making.

"Oh stop laughing Summer." I grumbled at her in annoyance.

Summer lift her hands to cover her mouth, the sound of her laughter was smothered but not by much while her shoulders continue to shake with mirth. "That's so you Jerkface. That was totally what I imagined you would say." She said through her hands.

I rolled my eyes at her, showing that I'm less than amused before my eyes widen slightly as I thought of something to say that would no doubt cause some damage to the redhead. I quickly focus my attention towards Summer, eyes narrowing and face smoothed into a perfect poker face. "May the chocolate chips in your cookies always turn out to be raisins." I intoned.

Summer recoiled as if she was struck, her earlier amusement gone and she leveled a pouty glare at me. "That's the meanest thing anyone has ever said to me!" She said, sounding as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard while looking at me like I'm some sort of villain who'd steal candies from kids to make them cry just for laughs. To be fair, I did steal Amber's every once in a while but only so she wouldn't consume so much. It also helped that she never noticed that her candy stash is slowly getting smaller.

"See, I told you I could be mean." I told her haughtily.

Summer didn't dignify me with a response and simply turn her head to the left with a 'hrrump', clearly not happy with me.

I noticed that when Summer turned away, Amber quickly pick up her plate and hover it near Summer's. She then used her fork to shove over some of her broccoli that she had separated from her salad. With about half of what was suppose to be Amber's broccoli on Summer's plate, Amber quickly place her plate back down.

The little girl then put on a proud smile on her face. It's almost as if she was patting herself on the back for the feat that she managed to pull off without anyone noticing. Too bad I did, and judging from how Kali had a small smile on her face while looking at Amber, she did too. Summer however, never noticed what the little bugger had done because she was looking the other way.

I could only shake my head at what Amber has done. That girl, doesn't she know that if she wants to do something to someone without being found out, she shouldn't only be focusing on her target but to her surroundings as well? Ah well, she's just a kid so I can forgive the amateur mistake. I'll teach her how to properly prank people later.

Amber then began eating the bacon she had picked out without a single care in the world, her legs kicking up in the air while savoring the taste of the meat in her mouth with her eyes closed and her body shivering in delight.

Smiling at the sight, I decided to take advantage of the situation to further annoy our resident redhead for my own amusement. "Hey Summer, I noticed that you haven't even touched your vegetables yet."

Summer turn to me with a confused look on her face before she looked down at her plate. Her eyes widen when she saw the noticeable increase on greenery there. "What!? But these are-"

"We're suppose to be setting an example for the kid here. I mean, look at Amber, I know that she hates vegetables but at least she knows that it's good for her and eats them." I quickly interrupted her before she could get a word in.

We both look towards where Amber was and we saw her stabbing her fork into a single piece of broccoli that was laying motionlessly on top of the carcasses of it's boiled brethren. Without even a single bit of hesitation, she raise it towards her mouth and plop it in. The brown haired child began chewing it while looking us with those pure innocent brown eyes of hers, as if asking us if something was wrong.

"See, isn't she just a good girl? Isn't that right Kali?" I turn my head around to ask the cat girl. I noticed that in my peripheral vision, Amber quickly spits out the chewed broccoli onto her hand and toss it into a potted plant near the corner of the room that serves as nothing more than decoration to liven up the place. Amazingly, the gunk of chewed vegetable landed directly into the pot where it'll no doubt be fertilizer for the plant...if the entire thing wasn't made out of plastic. I made a mental note to clean that place later while Amber turned to face Summer, bashing her eyelashes at her cheekily as she did so.

"I suppose so." Kali agreed, giggling lightly as her yellow eyes twinkle with amusement. I have no doubt that she saw what Amber had just done.

"Clever girl." Summer muttered in discontent as she glared at the little girl. Said girl responded by grinning and is completely unaffected by Summer's glare. I couldn't help but admire Amber's bravery as I would break a sweat if I'm the one at the receiving end of Summer's glares. Only the really angry ones though.

"Clever indeed." Aunt May commented with a faint smile on her face. "Still though, best hurry up and finish eating. We still have to open shop after all." She reminded us all, prompting the girls to start eating their food.

Nodding in agreement, I decided to chime in as well to make sure that Amber would at least eat some of her vegetables instead of passing it all to Summer. It's good for her body after all and there's no way in hell that I'm going to let her entire diet consist of meat and sweets. "Alright Amber, enough playing around with your food and eat your vegetables properly this time." I told the panda girl.

"Ehhhhh~" Amber let out a childish whine as all kids would when they're told to do something that they don't particularly like. "But my mummy never made me eat something I don't like."

"That's because she spoils you too much." I told her with a roll of my eye.

"Haffnt you been vooing ze same?" Aunt May point out while her mouth was still filled with food.

"I do it in moderation. Also, please swallow before talking." I told the adult with a deadpan before turning my attention back to Amber. "Amber, eating them is good for you. You'll grow bigger and stronger if you do. I don't get why you keep trying to find ways to avoid eating them even though you always failed in the end. Maybe you should just give up on that and learn to enjoy it. It'll certainly save you a lot of hassle and a lot of headaches for me."

Amber just pouted at me, clearly not happy with the situation.

Seeing that it's going to take a while to convince the girl to eat her veggies, I opted to take the quicker and easier route via threatening. "Remember what I said earlier about that chocolate milkshake Amber? You'll only get it if you've been a good girl, and good girls eat their vegetables." I told her with a very sly smile.

True to her love for sweet things, Amber began shoving her salad into her mouth immediately and started eating it for real. She had a rather grumpy look on her face the entire time she did so but that's to be expected when you made someone do something they don't particularly like.

"Good girl." I praised her with a slight chuckle, thinking that maybe I should do something to cheer her up now, least she spend the entire day in a bad mood. "How about I show you a little trick that I know as a reward eh?" Amber continued to chew while rising an inquiring eyebrow at me. She doesn't look very happy with me but at least she looked intrigued at what I have to offer.

I reach my hand out to the bowl that held the hard boiled eggs and took one. "Watch closely now." I said as I tap the tip of the egg against the edge of the table and repeated the action with it's bottom. Amber's eyes were glued to the egg in my hand in curiosity as I carefully peel away the top and the bottom of the shell, leaving holes there wide enough for the trick that I'm about to perform.

I held onto the egg with one hand, fingers wrapped around it's sides gently and raised it up to my mouth. I place my other hand at the other end of the egg and blew into the hole at the tip. The egg inside the shell resisted for a brief second before it came loose, the entire thing popped out of it's shell and landed onto my palm. I showed Amber both the still perfectly intact shell and the egg, earning a wide eyed stare of awe from her.

"Woooooaaahhhh." She let out in childish wonder, her earlier bad mood seemingly forgotten. She reach out her hand while eyeing the shell, silently asking me if she could hold it for examination. I handed her the shell for her to get a closer look at while observing her reactions to it with interest.

Amber took it from me carefully, spinning it around in her hands at eye level while trying to understand just how something like this could be possible. She must've used a bit too much strength when holding onto the shell because it suddenly crumbled in her hands and the girl let out a sad sounding 'awww...' in disappointment.

"So, what do you think?" I asked her.

"It's cool." She said as she look away from the crumbled remains of the eggshell in her hands to look at me.

"You think you can do the same yourself?" I asked her while handing her another egg that I took from the bowl while she was busy examining the shell.

She quickly threw the crushed shell in her hand to the table and took the egg from my hand. She easily mimicked what I did and tried to blow the egg out of it's shell. She blew and blew with all her might, but the only result she got was her face turning red until she finally gave up and started gasping for air, swaying back and forth in her chair from the dizziness caused by her own actions.

She shook her head to rid herself of her dizzy spell and turn to me with narrowed eyes. "You musta did something to the egg first." She accused me, feeling miffed that she couldn't achieved what I did.

"What!?" I cried out in mock hurt. "Nonsense, my egg peeling skills are just that egg-celent." I replied while wagging my eyebrow.

"Pfff-." Suddenly, we heard the sound of someone starting to laugh but was abruptly muffled coming from Amber's side. It made both of us curious enough to turn our attention towards whoever made it.

Summer was there, staring intently at her plate and completely focusing on eating her pancakes. I wouldn't have notice that anything was wrong if there wasn't a faint reddish hue on her cheeks that is slowly becoming more apparent the more we stare at her. I grinned as I understood that she was pretending that she didn't just laughed while Amber pursing her lips to the side with a confused look on her face.

I'm feeling rather happy because someone is actually laughing at my puns. That almost never happens and when it did, it's only because they were being polite.

"W-what? What are you two staring at?" The redhead shuttered out when she finally couldn't handle the stares that she's getting from us anymore.

"Did you just...laughed at my pun?" I asked with a bit of hesitation, mainly because I could be wrong about her liking my pun and didn't want to get my hopes up.

"Pssh, who would even find that funny." Summer quickly denied while looking away, a clear sign that she was lying to me.

I couldn't help but smile as I reach my hand out to the table very slowly while keeping my eye on Summer. My odd movement drew everyone's attention, including Summer's as her gaze followed where my hand was going. I took an egg from the bowl again and brought it to my side, waving it in the air for the girls to see.

My smile turned into a wicked grin as I brought the egg to the table. "Nice to see that my pun has you so-" I paused and hit the egg against the table to crack it. "-cracked up." I punned as I show Summer the cracks on the egg. I heard Kali and Aunt May groan at how terrible the pun was but I ignored them with relative ease because I already expected that kind of response from them. Amber grew even more confused at what's going on as she continue to look between me and Summer, trying to figure out just what is happening. I ignored the little girl as well because the only thing I'm interested in right now is Summer's reaction.

I saw that Summer had purse her lips tightly into a thin line as she looked at everywhere but me while her shoulders tremble slightly.

I'm never knew that my grin could grew any wider than it is already but apparently, it could. "For someone who says that my puns aren't funny at all, your reactions to them are rather… egg-streme, no?"

Both of Summer's hands were clutched into fists, shaking as she restrains herself from laughing at my pun. Her lips were trembling as she shot me a glare for my punny attempts in trying to make her laugh. Kali just groaned again while burying her face into her hands with her ears drooped. "Please stop." She begged pitifully.

"What, why? I think that this is rather fun." I turn to face Kali with a bemused expression.

"I don't get it." Amber stated with a confused look on her face.

I pat the brown haired girl on her head. "You will one day, maybe when you're older." I simply told her to which she responded with an unsatisfied pout.

Kali lifted her face from her hands and shot me a pleading look. "Your puns are so bad that it's giving me goosebumps." Kali told me as she rubs her arms. It's actually rather nice to see her acting so unreserved for once.

"I think that you're just... eggs-aggerating." I told her with a smirk and quickly look over to Summer. Summer had a hand over her mouth now, the edges of her eyes twinkled with mirth as the trembling on her shoulders intensified.

"Seriously kid, stop it." Aunt May interrupted half-heartedly with a roll of her eyes. She wasn't even putting any effort in stopping me at all so I guess she approves of my puns. Either that or she's just too lazy to do anything about it.

Not wanting to displease the older woman any further because she's in charge of how much I get paid, I decided that it's best to stop now. But not before getting one last pun in of course. "Fineeeee, omelettin' this punny business go." I said with a shrug of my shoulders, earning another bout of groans from the two ladies.

Summer suddenly burst out into snickers, finally reaching the limit of how much she could stop herself from laughing.

"Ah ha! So you do find it funny!" I said loudly whilst pointing at finger at the redhead.

"N-no I don't." She feverishly denied while waving her hands in front of her.

"But you're smiling." I pointed out with an odd sense of victory swelling within my chest. I have no idea why I would be feeling that but who cares, I finally found someone who found my puns funny.

"I know and I hate it." Summer replied while hiding her face behind her hands, trying and failing to stop me from seeing the smile that she has.

And so, just like that, we started trading jabs and quips like usual with Amber joining in on occasions and most surprisingly, Kali too. It wasn't until Aunt May joined in and mercilessly destroyed us all with sharp words that easily cut us to the core did we quiet down in crushing defeat. It was a good thing Aunt May decided to stop us from continuing or we might end up messing around for the entire morning...again.

And just like that, our morning has gone off with a pretty rowdy start like always.

 **-0-**

Halfway though the meal, Sheila decided to remind me that this might be the best time to ask the girls their preference in food. I thanked her for the reminder and decided to bring attention to myself with the risk of starting something even though the table had finally quiet down not long ago. I have no doubt that we're going to start being noisy again once I opened my mouth. I swear, there's never a quiet moment with these people. Then again, that has always been why I find their company so enjoyable. It's their charm after all.

"So…." I started, pausing to see if I got everyone's attention. I noticed that almost everyone had set their eyes on me now save for Amber as she greedily stuff more of her pancakes into her mouth. Aunt May is no longer present because she had already finished up her food and had headed out arrange the tables and chairs before we can open the cafe. "I've been meaning to ask, just what kind of food do you girls like and hate?"

"Huh, why are you asking this now all of the sudden?" Summer questioned.

"Well, I have something planned for tonight so I thought it might help in advance to know everyone's preference in food. That way, it'll be easier for me to decided what kind of dish I want to make tonight." I replied.

"Ooo, sounds interesting. But I'll have you know that there's almost nothing that I dislike eating." Summer declares proudly, smacking her fist at her puffed up chest in pride.

"I'm not surprised to hear that at all." I told her wryly with a smile. It wasn't that hard to come to that conclusion considering just how often she would wolf down everything on the table. It makes me glad that someone enjoys my cooking but couldn't she at least save something for me once in a while?

"Hey, what's with that look you're giving me?" Summer uttered inquisitively.

Before I could say anything, Amber decided to speak up and ask a question of her own. "Hey, big bro. What kind of food do you hate?" She questioned with interest. I crank my neck downwards to look at her and to my pleasant surprise, she barely had a stain of maple syrup on her mouth now. Finally, the kid's learning how to eat properly, or at least cleanlier than she used to. I've lost count of how many times I had to wipe her mouth for her so I'm actually feeling so proud of her right now. I think I might actually shed a tear of happiness like any emotional parent would when they saw their child do something that makes them proud.

"Seafood." I quickly answered least I started bawling like an idiot.

I saw Kali flinched at the corner of my eye and swivel her head towards me. She was looking at me with eyes widen in horror and betrayal like I'm some kind of monster that had just shed it's disguise and revealed it's true nature after befriending her and gaining her trust. Just what could cause that kind of reac- Oh right, she's a cat Faunus, she absolutely loves seafood.

"I'm surprised." Summer claimed, sounding skeptical. "I didn't know you have something that you don't like eating. You usually complain about it when we don't eat everything on our plates." She pointed out.

"Of course I do. I'm only human after all. Haven't you noticed that I rarely make seafood when I'm in charge of cooking?" I told her with a roll of my eyes. Judging from the look she were giving me, she seem to realize that as well. "What about you three?" I asked them eagerly, wanting to know a little bit more about the people that I've been hanging around with.

"Veggies." Amber stated predictably.

"Hmmmm, for me it would be tofu. It's unappetizing, mushy, bland and tasteless." Summer told me with clear disgust in her voice as her body shivers like she had remembered some childhood trauma. "I remember eating one at a restaurant before when I was younger and boy did I regretted putting that thing in my mouth."

"Really? I guess that's probably because they didn't properly marinade it or something. I can make something decent with tofu if you're willing to give it a shot. Who knows, maybe it'll be tasty enough to get rid of your distaste for it." I told her cheekily, clearly confident in my own cooking ability.

Summer gained a very thoughtful look as she turn to regard me. "Well...knowing you, everything you make is so sure to be delicious. I suppose I'll give it a try." She stated after she did some thinking on that matter, looking rather eager to try said dish now.

"Oh my, was that a compliment?" I couldn't help but ask with a coy smile.

Summer quickly look away with a small blush on her face. "No it's not. I was simply stating the obvious."

"Ah, I see. I'm happy to know that you hold my cooking in such high regard," I replied with a humorous smile. "enough that you're actually drooling at the mere mention of me making a new dish for you to try."

"W-wha?" Summer let out an alarmed cry as her face reddens even more and quickly wipe her chin with her hand to check. When she didn't find any moisture running down her mouth at all, her eye twitched in annoyance when she realized that she had been had. "Oh you lying jerk. I'll get you back for that." She uttered unhappily as her blush subsides.

"Heh, good luck with that." I reply with a chuckle, my mind already working on ways to foil any kind of revenge parnk that she may come up with. "So, what about you Curr- Curry?" I call out to her in concern when I noticed that the girl in question has a gloomy air hanging around her that wasn't there previously. Her eyes were hidden by the shadow created by her bangs as she look silently downward at her plate. This is the first time that I've seen her so down so I'm a bit worried as well as perplexed as to what could've caused her to become so depressed. She was completely fine just a moment ago.

"Erm...what's wrong Curry?" I hesitantly asked, not really sure if I wanted to know what could've made the normally calm and collected girl to act this way.

Kali turn to me with a hurtful expression. "How can you not like seafood?" She asked with a sad whine, causing me to recoil slightly at how adorably sad she looked. Herrrk! My heart, it hurts. I feel like there's a million needles penetrating through it just by looking at her. It has to be her cat features, those big round eyes and fluffy ears are a deadly combination.

But still, I know you're a cat Faunus and all Kali but seriously? You're that upset over the fact that I don't like seafood? "I just have a bad experience with seafood in the past alright. I got food poisoning from it one time and I ended up puking all day. It lead me to develop an apprehension of it on a subconscious level." I quickly explained to her my reasons for my dislike of seafood because the sad look on her face is just so heartbreaking. "I can eat it if I wanted to but I generally steer clear of it just to be safe."

Kali blinked and stayed still to process what I've just said, her face slowly morphing from one of hurt to one of understanding. "O-oh." She let out, sounding rather relieved while I made a mental note not to say anything bad about seafood around cat Faunuses, just in case.

 **[It has been noted.]** Sheila informed me.

' _Thank you Sheila.'_ I thanked my V.I before speaking out loud. "So, anything you hate eating Kali?" I asked in attempt to change the subject.

"W-well, I'm not really fond of bitter tasting food." Kali told me, poking her index fingers together as she looks away bashfully.

"I see." I nodded before moving on to the next topic. "How about the things you all like then?"

""Cookies/Sweets."" Summer and Amber both answered simultaneously without missing a beat.

"I meant real food." I told them with a deadpan.

Both the girls thought about their answers for a while before they both spoke up at the same time again ""Potatoes."" Both replied before looking at each other in surprise. It didn't take long before they burst out giggling at how much of a coincidence that was.

"What a coincidence. Me three." Kali added.

"That's quite a surprise, as well as convenient." I honestly said. There are a lot of dishes I can make with potatoes and it didn't hurt that I like it as well. I wonder if I should be amused that all four of us liked the same thing.

There's just one thing though.

We ran out of it not long ago.

Maybe we can go shopping for more later on today. It shouldn't take too long to buy them so that problem can easily be solved. That just leaves what kind of dishes should I make for them.

For Amber, I suppose having french fries on the menu should suffice. Normally I would be against oily junk food, in fact, I'm against all kind of junk food in general but I suppose I should make an exception for today.

Summer however, I have no clue as to what I should make for her since there are so many options. I'll think of something for her eventually so that just leaves Kali. Hmmmm….I think I'll make some tuna potato patties, or maybe a pie variation. There's still some tuna left in the fridge and I know for a fact that Kali will love it a lot. In fact, any kind of dish with tuna in it will always make her mew in excitement.

"Alrighty then." I declared. "I'm going to make a potato feast tonight so you girls best behave yourselves or you're not getting it."

""Yes mum/mummy."" Both Summer and Amber replied playfully, causing me to glare at them. Instead of being scared by my super mean glare, they both just laughed at the sour look I'm giving them.

I'm not sure when it started but the girls began calling me mum at some point. When I asked why, they told me that I get very naggy from time to time like a real mother would.

"While I'm glad to hear that you're making something special tonight but...what's the occasion? Surely, you must have some kind of reason for doing so." Kali asked curiously, prompting the other two girls to look at me for answers with equal curiosity.

"What, you mean you don't know? And don't call me Shirley." I added in the end with a smile.

Summer and Kali chuckled at the joke while Amber looked confused. "Know what?" Summer asked after she stopped her chuckles.

"It's for your farewell party. We can't let you leave with a simple goodbye after all." I simply stated.

Instantly, the cheerful mood around the table evaporated and I have a distinctive feeling that I've killed the mood with what I said just now.

"O-oh." Summer said, sounding rather shock and surprise at the revelation. Her head slowly tilt downwards while the ahoge on her head dropped listlessly. "Oh…" Summer repeated again in a lower volume than before. "So today's my last day huh..." I could only raise a confused eyebrow at her reaction. That's odd, I thought she would be more ecstatic to learn that she no longer have to work here.

"Eh!? Big sis is leaving?" Amber cried out in alarm.

Kali's eyes widen slightly when she realized that as well and could only look towards the redhead with a sad frown upon her face.

"Yeah, I guess so Amber." Summer answered the little girl.

"Does this mean I won't be able to see big sis again?" Amber asked in a worried tone, looking towards the redhead by her side sadly.

"Of course not Amber." Summer told her reassuringly though I can hear faint traces of sadness in her voice. "We can still see each other when I come by."

"Then promise me that you'll come by a lot." Amber childishly demands, looking at Summer with those round brown eyes of hers that's practically daring her to say no.

Summer chuckles a bit before she nodded. "Sure. I promise that I will."

After that, we were left to eat in silence, a very uncomfortable silence.

 **-0-**

Everyone has finished eating not long ago but Summer has been playing with her food instead of eating it for a while now. I couldn't help but be surprised as well as worried because she's usually the one to finish first. Actually, the most shocking thing is that her plate actually have some food left on it. This is Summer that we're talking about here, she never leaves anything behind so why the sudden lost of appetite?

I could tell from her expression that something was bothering her but didn't know what so I could only watch with a worried frown as the redhead stared absentmindedly at her food, prodding it with her fork every once in a while.

She's acting really strangely today. That's odd considering that she was fine not long ago.

Just what could've cause the normally energetic redhead to act this way?

 **[It's your fault you know.]** Sheila helpfully supplied when I was feeling very troubled and confused about Summer's sudden change in behavior.

' _What? Why is it my fault?'_ I asked the VI indignantly, unsure as to why I'm suddenly being accused to be the one who caused Summer to be this way.

I waited for Sheila to answer my question but got none in return. It would seem that she chose to ignore me. Typical women behavior. They always say that you did something wrong but never bothered to explain what it is.

I sighed in resignation, knowing full well that I won't be getting an answer from my so called VI whose job was suppose to help me get through life. Instead, I look over to the side where the sink is and I saw the figure of a raven haired cat girl was there, washing the dishes while humming a very melodic tune. Not sure what song it is but it sure sounds nice.

Kali had offered to wash the dishes for me which is very nice of her as always and Amber was by her side, trying her best to help. Since the little girl is naturally too short to be able to reach the sink, she's currently standing on top of a chair to give her a boost in height.

Hmm, maybe I should ask Kali about Summer. She should know more than me since you know, she's a girl. I'm not going to ask her directly since Summer's nearby so I resorted to using my scroll to send her a message. I quickly took out the thingy from my pocket and searched for Kali on my contact list. It wasn't hard since there's like, only three people on my list.

I quickly typed in the message and pressed send.

A split second later, I heard a ding coming from Kali's direction. I watched as she quickly wash her hands to get rid of the soap and flicked her hands in the air to get rid of the water. She used her apron to fully dry them before picking her Scroll out from her pocket. She gave her new message a quick read before turning her head in my direction to give me a quirked eyebrow.

Anyway, my message reads **[** **Have you noticed that Summer's** **acting a bit odd** **?** **]** I'm also feeling slightly hopeful that she would tell me something instead of letting me figure things out on my own like Sheila did.

She typed into her scroll and another split second later, mine beeped. **[You really don't know?]**

 **[** **I don't, that's why I'm asking.** **]** I typed back.

I saw Kali purse her lips together as she took on a contemplating look while examining me, almost as if she's trying to figure out whether or not I'm lying. Eventually, she just let out a sigh and shook her head slightly before typing again. **[** **It's because you told her about the farewell party.** **]** She finally explained.

I was feeling quite happy as well as confused upon hearing her answer. I was happy because there's actually a girl out there who would tell me what I did wrong for once instead of leaving cryptic answers; I was confuse because I have no idea why Summer would be upset because of that. **[** **Why though? It's not like I did anything wrong when I told her that did I?** **]**

 **[Well no. But think of it this way. Summer's been coming over here for months right? It's not uncommon for someone to develop a certain attachment to places as well as the people there after spending so much time there. Now that you've just told her that today is her last day here, how do you think she would feel?]**

Upon reading Kali's reply, I tried to remember if Summer actually liked working here. Sadly, all the memories that I have about her only involved the redhead blushing cutely, getting mad at me for something I did and being caught doing something embarrassingly funny. Yeah, I really can't rely on my brain for this. **[I really don't know. She did claim to dislike working with me from the start and it is my fault that she's forced to work here. I thought she would be happy to know that she's no longer needed to waste her weekends working instead of whatever it is that teenage Huntress-in-training does.]** I typed back.

It didn't take long before I got Kali's reply and I quickly read the text that pop up on my screen.

 **[That's what you think.]** was all it said. I don't get it at all so I crank my head towards Kali's direction and gave the girl a puzzled look.

Kali gave me a small smile before placing her scroll back into her pocket, effectively ending the conversation and returning her attention to the dishes.

So, in the end I still have no idea why Summer's acting this way. Ugh, why can't the girls just out and say what's on their mind instead of leading me on like this? Why Kali!? I thought you were different than the rest!

Knowing that I won't get anywhere like this, I took a sip of my coffee that I haven't finish yet while pondering about what Kali could've meant. I almost choked on it in surprise when I noticed that Amber was standing at my side. Ever since we removed the squeaky soles on her panda suit she's been moving around silently like a ninja whenever she wants.

"Yes Amber?" I asked the ninja panda, wondering just what she could've wanted.

"Cup." She said, holding her hands out.

I quirk my eyebrow and look down at the mug that still has a bit of coffee in it in my hand. Oh, so she wants to wash it for me. "It's a mug Amber, not a cup." I told her with a cheeky smile. "There's a clear difference between a cup and a mug." My words caused the girl to tilt her head questioningly as she look towards the mug at my hand, most likely trying to figure out what the difference is.

I chuckled lightly at her confused expression before speaking again. "Just wait for me to finish it first." Just as I said that, I suddenly have a bright idea involving the coffee in my hand and the little girl by my side. "Or, maybe, you want to try drinking it yourself?" I suggested to brown haired child with a shit-eating grin on my face, knowing full well that she never drank coffee before.

Amber seem to find that suggestion very appealing and she quickly nods her head eagerly.

But instead of handing her the drink immediately, I put on a show of uncertainly, pursing my lips to the side while humming as if I'm actually thinking about it. "Hmmm, maybe you shouldn't. It's an adult drink after all." I said, not really putting in any effort to dissuade her from trying.

Amber place her hands on her hips and stood up straight. "I'm a big girl, so I can drink it." She stated confidently.

"Oh really?" I challenged.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Then I guess there's nothing I can do to stop you." I told her seriously as I handed her the mug, trying my best not to smile as she gladly took it from my hand.

I watch with interest as she fearlessly place the mug to her mouth and took a big swig, blissfully unaware of the fact that I like my coffee blacker than vantablack in the morning for the extra kick strong enough to wake up the dead.

The moment the black liquid made contact with her taste buds, the excited expression on her face instantly scrunched and twisted into a grimace of bitter regret; bitter, because it's coffee. I have no doubt she was expecting something sweet when she got her hands on my mug.

She did a good job of not spitting the liquid out and managed to swallowed it forcefully while her eyes were squeezed tightly shut from the bitterness. She quickly place the mug down on the table and stuck her tongue out with the look of utter disgust on her face.

Then, she uses her hands to paw at her tongue in attempts to get rid of the bitter flavor lingering there to no avail.

Is it bad that I really wanted to take a picture of her right now?

"It's biter." She told me, her tongue still hanging out in the open and her eyes were slightly moistened like she's going to cry.

"No. It's bitter, bit-ter, not biter. There's two T's in it." I corrected her cheekily while waving a single finger at her.

Amber rolled her eyes at me in response. "Bitttttteeeerrrrr." She repeated while drawing out the word.

"Good." I nodded. "I'll make some coffee for you next time as a reward." I told her and her face immediately blanched at the prospect of drinking the bitter beverage again. "Don't worry, I'll make it sweet and creamy for you like how Summer likes it next time." At that, her face regained her colour and she seem to beam brightly at me.

Heh, kids. Always so simple. I took the mug and down the remaining coffee in one go before I gave it to Amber. "Here you go." Amber took the mug from me and quickly head over to the sink to wash it.

With Amber gone, I turn my attention back to the problem at hand, which is Summer. I frowned when I realized that she's still playing with the food on her plate.

It appears that Summer didn't notice the entire exchange going on in front of her at all. I'm starting to get even more worried than before because Summer almost always pays attention to what Amber and I were doing together. It's mostly because it's like a source of entertainment for her, just like how her reactions to my teasing are to me.

I never seen her this way before.

Summer usually has a vibrant air surrounding her that never fails to lighten up the place. But now that cheery air is gone and is replace with the brooding atmosphere that she has. Frankly, I don't like it one bit. Seeing her this troubled just makes me feel extremely guilty. The guilt might have something to do with Sheila and Kali pointing out that I am the cause of Summer current state even though I don't even know what I did.

I need to fix this pronto. And to do that, I need to figure out what's wrong with her first. Side's we can't have our maid of honor spending her last days around here all gloomy now can we?

"Hey Summer." I called the redhead to ask what's wrong, something I should've done from the get go. I couldn't help but notice at the corner of my eye, Kali was pretending not to be listening in and she's doing a very bad job at it too.

Summer suddenly jerked slightly when I called her, probably snapping herself out of her stupor when she heard her name being called. "Yes?" She asked while looking at me with a slight tilt of her head and a quirk of her eyebrow.

"Are you feeling all right?" I asked in concern, eyes flicking towards the food that she's playing with and back to her to let her know what I'm talking about. The girl look towards where I just glanced and realized what I was hinting at.

"Oh, right. I'm just... not really that hungry right now." Summer replied, causing me to stare at her in wide eyed shock. Summer isn't hungry? That's the same as saying that the Russians don't like alcohol. Okay, I admit that I was over exaggerating it a bit there.

I took a deep breath and decided to ask away before I lose my courage. "Are you upset because I told you that today would be your last day here?" I asked tentatively.

Summer took a moment to reply and I waited tensely all the while. "Not really. I was just thinking about what I'm suppose to do with my weekends now that I don't have to come here anymore." Summer answered while putting down her fork that she was poking her pancakes with. "It's just...weird. I'm already used to coming over here every weekend but now that I don't need to anymore, I don't really know what I should do with my newfound free time."

"Oh? Then why don't you hang out with your friends? I know you couldn't before because you were forced to work here so you've probably missed out a lot with them because of me." I told her while scratching my cheek sheepishly.

"Yeah...about that." Summer began hesitantly, looking very ashamed for some reason. "I don't really have a lot of people to hang out with." She said in a very low voice that I almost had to strain my ears to hear her.

I quirk an eyebrow at that. "I distinctively recall hearing you say that you have a lot of friends quite a while ago."

"Oh shut up. I lied about that okay." Summer uttered out, looking away in either embarrassment or shame. "I just didn't want to look bad."

"Why Summer, didn't you know that it's not a good thing to lie?" I said, feigning shock while looking at her with eyes widen in fake disbelief.

"I don't want to hear that from someone who told me that cotton candy came from clouds." She quipped back almost instantly. We both stared at each other for a few seconds before I started snickering as the memory of that time resurfaced. Summer eventually joined in as well and we shared a small laugh over that particular memory.

"That wasn't a lie, it was a joke. There's a difference between the two, albeit a very small one." I informed her in a sagely manner, like a wise old man passing on his knowledge to the younger generation.

"Oh hardy har har. Very funny." Summer said with a roll of her eyes. "I wouldn't have to deal with this kind of abrupt schedule shifts if it weren't for you, you know." She reminded me, sounding rather annoyed while pointing her index finger at me. I do know that the annoyance in her tone is fake because of how the edges of her lips are tugged upwards.

"Urgk." But even so, her words stuck me straight at my guilty conscious and I visibly winched while hanging my head down in shame. "Sorry about that."

"Why Jerkface, are you telling me that you're actually starting to feel sorry for everything you've done?" Summer uttered out in mock shock, looking at me with a playful smile.

I shook my head before looking at her in the eye. "No, not starting. Always." I answer her solemnly. It something rather uncharacteristic for me to do and it showed. Summer's playful smile immediately dropped and was replaced with a look of surprise. Heck, Kali even stopped pretending not to be listening in and snapped her head to regard me with the same amount of surprise as Summer.

It appears that at some point in time, she had finished washing the dishes and was trying to be unnoticeable as possible at the side of the room with her favorite notebook in hand, already writing something in it rather intensely. It really makes me wonder just what on earth is she writing in there but I'll shove that curiosity aside for now. I'll figure it out one day but today is not that day.

Amber was already missing from the kitchen, presumably already out in the front doing whatever it is that Aunt May wants her to do.

"Summer, I caused you to lose at least an entire month of your life if you add all the time you spent here together. An entire month that you could've use to spent your life however you see fit. Instead, you're stuck here because of what I did when we first met. Time is a fleeting thing and a person's lifespan only lasts for so long. How can I not feel guilty for wasting something so precious when it's not even mine to waste." I continued, my face crestfallen in genuine sadness.

Those were the thoughts that I had kept hidden away, thoughts that I don't let show because I know that it'll do no good when the damage is already done. The knowledge that the time that she had lost will not come back and it's slowly eating away at me, growing stronger the more time passes. She could've used it to train and grow stronger but I wasted it just like that. What if she got hurt during a mission because of the lack of training? Or worse, what if if she died?

Summer, realizing that I wasn't kidding around like always, decided to treat this matter seriously and thought about what I've said. She looked at me rather strangely when she spoke. "Is that why you're always treating me kindly?" She said with a sad frown on her face, sounding rather hurt by the revelation.

"No, that's just because I was raised to treat a girl nicely... and it's mostly because you're very cute. If it were a guy that's in your shoes, I would've just told him that I'm sorry about getting him in this mess and forget all about it later. In fact, I don't think I'll even bother to remember him at all." I told her seriously, not once breaking eye contact with the girl.

Summer blushed lightly when I called her cute but other than that, there's not much reaction. I guess all that teasing I did finally made her resistant to overreacting. "W-well, I can see that happening." She stammered at the start, breaking eye contact for a brief moment to gather herself. "You've always been like that with Sill."

"Who?" I asked in confusion, not really knowing who Summer just mentioned. The girl look back towards me with a look of disbelief. She opened her mouth to speak but snap it shut moments after, looking like she couldn't be bothered deal with this and just shook her head slightly with a small, amused smile on her face.

"Of course he'd forgotten about him already. Why am I not surprise." She muttered to herself before looking back at me. "No one important." She answered my earlier question with a deadpan.

"Okay?" I said, pushing aside the question of who this Sill person is in favor of doing something I should've done on the very first day.

I've been working up the courage to say it for a bit and now might as well be the best time as any. I need to hurry before I lose my chance and my nerves and we undoubtedly ended up starting another banter war. I took a deep breath before I started speaking. "Summer, I'm sorry. For everything that I've done so far to upset you as well as getting you into a debt that should've been all on me." I apologized to her with as much sincerity as I could muster with my head bowing lowly.

All of the sudden, I heard a soft 'thuck' as well as the feeling of stinging pain on my forehead. I quickly reel my head back in blind panic to see what could've hit me as well as rubbing the stinging spot on my head. The first thing I saw was Summer's outstretched hand and I instantly understood the reason why my forehead is stinging. It appears that the redhead had leaned over the table to flick me on my forehead.

I look at the girl in confusion while rubbing my forehead as she sat back down on her seat, leveling a look of disappointment at me. "I like it better when you're just a jerk who's too carefree for his own good." She told me with an unsatisfied pout on her face. "Getting worried over whether or not someone is unhappy with you doesn't suit you at all."

"Huh? I thought you'd be mad at me for getting you into this mess?" The confusion that I felt is most likely palpable from my voice alone.

"You would be right about that….if you said that three months ago." Summer informed me with a grin on her face, clearly enjoying the bewildered expression that I'm giving her right now. "What I meant to say is, I've stopped holding a grudge over that a long time ago Jerkface. Being here is a rather fun experience for me, if you exclude all the time you got me mad with your teasing that is."

"Really? So I've been worrying about this for nothing then?" I asked, sounding very exasperated for the waste of energy.

"Pretty much, yeah." Summer confirmed with a nod.

I just sighed in defeat. "Even so, I still feel really guilty about your arrangements here."

Summer suddenly gained a mischievous look on her face before she put on a thoughtful expression, placing her index finger against the side of her chin as she let out a thoughtful hum. "Weeellll, if you really sorry about it... then find a way to make it up to me." She told me, sounding all too happy with that idea.

I thought about what she had said and it seemed reasonable enough so I agreed. "Fine. As apology for upsetting you, I'll make a batch of butterscotch cookies for you to pick up the next time you come around."

"Make it two." Summer said happily with a greedy glint in her eye.

"What? Seriously?" I asked incredulously. One batch is already a lot and can fill half of that cookie jar that we have that's normally used to store cookies for staff consumption instead of selling. It's also a very big jar.

"Dead serious." Summer replied without missing a beat.

I lean back against my chair and sighed while shaking my head, already given up in caring about her calorie intake. I'll claim no responsibility if she gets fat from all that snacking but then again, I'm sure she'll burn all that fat away in no time with how much she trains during her time in combat school. "Fine, you greedy girl." I told her with a roll of my eyes.

"For that comment, you'll have to make three batches." Summer said, smirking smugly now.

"Okay, now that's just a bit too much. Two batches." I argued, crossing my arms together to make an 'X' in front of me.

"Are you saying that you won't make it up to me?" She pouted while fluttering her eyelashes at me innocently.

"You're milking this for all it's worth aren't you?" I accused, narrowing my eyes at the redhead while trying to ignore how cute she looked as she does that.

"What's that? Are you saying that you'll make four?" Summer said, opening her mouth slightly in mock surprise with a hand over it. "Why Jerkface, I didn't know you can be so generous."

My eye twitched in annoyance and I had to withhold the urge unleash my tickling skill on her as punishment for being so shameless. "Three and a half, that's the final offer. Take it or leave it." I told her.

"Deal." Summer said quickly as she held out her hand.

"Deal then." I muttered tiredly as I reach my own hand out to seal the deal. "Just don't come crying to me saying that it's my fault when you got fat later on." I added as we shook each other's hands.

"Ha, as if that would ever happen." Summer replied cheekily with a smile so infectious that I couldn't help but smile along with her.

Inwardly however, I was thinking about all the ingredients that I have to pay out of my own pockets since I can't just use the things in the kitchen for free. Ah well, at least she's smiling now. If it could get her to smile like that then it's totally worth the money.

Unbeknownst to me, Kali was smiling at how we sorta got things worked out as well. She gave a satisfied nod to herself and closes her notebook, the contents of which is only known to her, before she place it back into her bag and left the kitchen without anyone noticing it.

It was very impressive feat because she had to walk right past us to get to the door. I wonder if she's secretly a ninja.

 **(** **0** **)**

"Didn't you say you'll find out about it yourself? Yet here you are, asking me for help."

Somewhere, in a dark and gloomy room at an unknown location, a man spoke out with a hint of amusement in his deep and gravelly voice.

It's hard to make out anything in the darkness but there is a faint source of light coming from a scroll that the man was using. It was place on a table, propped up on a stand. It had barely enough light to illuminate a quarter of it's surroundings and it was not enough to reach the man sitting behind the desk, leaving him in the dark.

"I have reasons to believe that the he is suspicious of me." Another voice spoke, coming from the scroll on the table. The voice was accompanied with a thick layer of static as to hide the identity of the speaker. There was no image on the man's scroll, only a simple text on the screen displaying 'audio only'. Judging by the tone alone, one can tell that the one speaking through the scroll sounded very irritated by the man's remark. "I have keep a low profile for now unless I give myself away."

"Why do I have the feeling that it's because you were being too much of an ass as usual and your attempts backfired spectacularly. Don't you know that the whole point of getting close to a person so they'll share their secrets with you is for them to like you?" The man shrouded in darkness said with mirth.

"Will you help me or not." The person he is speaking to growled out.

"Hmmm, I do wonder whether or not I should. You have been rather difficult to deal with recently and I already have my hands full with other matters." The man said in an offhanded manner, seemingly uncaring about the person he's talking to.

There was a loud thump coming from the scroll and the man can easily tell that the speaker just slammed his fist onto the table angrily. He had always been very easy to lose his temper. "Don't you dare speak that way with me Cobalt. If it weren't for me, you'd be rotting in Atlas' highest security prison. I can easily tip them off about your whereabouts if that's what you want." The speaker snapped threateningly; but to the man, the threat might as well be water off a duck's back as he rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner, knowing full well that the one he's speaking to can't see him.

"Yes, yes, I do recall owing you a favor for that. Do you want to call it in and let me deal with him for you?" The man known as Coblat suggested.

"Why? Knowing you, you won't even lift a finger unless you have something to gain from-" There was a knock coming from the door to the room he's in, causing the conversation to halt.

"Come in." Cobalt said and the door opened, causing a small beam of light to enter the room. It wasn't enough to illuminate the entire place but it's enough for anyone to tell that the room is more or less an office of some kind. Cobalt saw who it was on the other side and he smiled, silently thankful that someone came so he wouldn't have to continue talking with this particular individual. Maybe he can use this as an excuse to end the conversation early, he can be quite tedious to deal with after all.

There stood a teenager who looks about 17 or 18. With a single glance, once can tell that he's a Faunus by the pitch brown wolf ears on his head that mashes perfectly well with his short brown hair. If he presses them against his head well enough, he may just get away without anyone noticing them if one doesn't go looking closely at his head. The most noticeable thing about him however, is his eyes. His left eye is crimson and the right is brown.

"Ah, Grey. You're back already. Please, sit down and wait for a bit. I shall be with you shortly." The man gestured at the chair at the other side of his desk. The teen did just that and the man return his attention to his Scroll. "I do apologize for the interruption." Cobalt said, not sounding very apologetic at all. "Now, as you were saying?"

The person over the phone just clicked his tongue in irritation. "Forget about it. I'll deal with it myself. I won't be forgetting this anytime soon Cobalt, remember that." He said heatedly before there was a click and the line went dead.

"Old shitface being an ass again?" Grey asked in a bored tone, his entire posture lax as he lean against the chair with his hands in his pocket and his feet propped up on his knee.

"Unfortunately." Cobalt sighed in annoyance.

"I would offer my sympathies but we both know that I'd be lying. Anyway, the little rat that had been scurrying around had been dealt with. He won't be reporting to whoever he's working for anytime soon, or at all for that matter." The teen reported lazily.

"Excellent." Cobalt acknowledged with a small nod before he got all business like. "Now then, I have a new assessment for you."

"What! But I just got back. I haven't even get a wink of sleep last night just so I can track him down." The teen said in protest, letting his feet down and leaning in with a glare. Those mismatched colored eyes of his seem to glow menacingly in the dark. "You've been working us to the bone here and I think it's high time we all get some well deserved rest."

"Well now, I'm quite please to hear that you had done your job so diligently as always. You have my thanks. At any rate, the sooner you get this one done the sooner you can get some rest." Cobalt responded coldly.

Grey just glower in place but said nothing, knowing that nothing he say will change Cobalt's mind. It wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't been doing all the odd jobs from Cobalt for days on end with no breaks in between. He's tired, worn and very cranky from the lack of sleep. Still, when Cobalt wants something, he gets it. That's just how things goes around here and Grey has no way to do anything about it. Not yet at least. He just hopes he finds a way to get out of this mess before Cobalt works him and his partner to death.

Taking Grey's silence as a sign to continue, Cobalt spoke once more. "Now, I'm sure that you are aware of the ever constant thorn at my side known as Hui Xiong and his gang filled with ruffians and muscles for brains." Cobalt pressed something on his Scroll and Grey's own pinged.

The teen took out his scroll and saw a picture of a large man with short gray hair and mustache in a dress suit. "Yes, I heard of him. Hard not to when he's been the most dominating presence in the underworld right now. What, you want me to kill him next?"

"Oh heavens no. While Hui and his goons have been a nuisance from time to time by constantly trying to take over my territory and never failing to defend their own, they have been rather useful at drawing attention from the law to themselves so I can move about freely." Cobalt explained.

"Then what is it that you want from me?" Grey demanded impatiently.

"Tsk tsk. Now, now Grey. Manners." Cobalt waved his finger in front of the teen in amusement, causing the boy to grit his teeth in anger. "As for what I want, it has something to do what how erratic the gang's movement has been. The most notable thing is about all this is Hui's son." Cobalt pressed a few more things in his Scroll, sending more images to Grey's.

Grey studied them as they pop up. Some were mostly picture of Hui's black suit henchmen at various locations doing god knows what. The rest were pictures of a teenager with short black hair wearing a white dress shirt and black dress pants.

Grey couldn't help but wonder why most of them showed him carrying ungodly amounts of bags in the market area of Vale and being ordered around by two women. One with green hair while the other one has red hair and is nothing more than a teenager.

"The teen you see here is Hei 'Junior' Xiong. He's a very important person in Hui's gang and next in line to succeed him it if anything were to happen to Hui. You could say that Junior is the one keeping the gang's operations running smoothly and keeping things in order while Hui continues to expand his power base aggressively." Cobalt told Grey and the teen just nodded, absorbing the information while flicking through the photos. Grey still couldn't help but wonder why someone so important is being ordered around by the two ladies.

"This all started four months ago and as you can see, I find it very strange that Hui would had his son play host to these lovely looking ladies. At first I thought nothing much of it, thinking that they could just be loyal customers of his trade that he wanted to please but now however..." Cobalt trailed off as he tapped his Scroll.

"What's this?" Grey asked when he received a map of Vale with blue markers being replace with red ones scattered all over the place.

"A list of attacks at my turf. It happens at random intervals and always in the dead of night. Survivors of the attacks never have anything useful to share except that it was all done by a single woman wearing a wolf mask and skin tight black suit. My men were all beaten rather pathetically and not long after, Hui's men moved in, almost as if they knew that the place will be up for grabs. I'm slowly losing territory over the past months and whoever is attacking them sure as hell isn't Hui's men. They're just too professional, too effective to be one of Hui's lumbering goons. It just so happen that it all started a day after Junior was spotted accompanying the ladies."

"So what? You think those one of ladies have anything to do with it?" Grey questioned in bemusement.

"Well, maybe. There isn't any significant proof of that either one of them were the ones that did it but it doesn't hurt to be careful. After all, Hui doesn't just sent his son to be a pack mule for anyone ordinary now would he? I'm not sure what Hui's been up to lately and I do not like being left in the dark. So what I want is information. See if you can find out just what kind of relationship the two ladies have with Hui and his gang."

"Don't you want me to find out who the mysterious attacker is instead?"

"That can be dealt with in time but for now, information is more important. After all, if I know who or what I'm dealing with, I wouldn't need to waste men or resources preparing for every unknown."

"What do you know about those two?"

"Nothing much I must admit. The green haired one is a rather famous Huntress before she retired after the death of her husband whose personal information is highly classified to the point where even my hackers can't get anything out of her. The red haired one on the other hand is a Hunter-in-training who shows great promise and is one of the top 5 students in her academy.

Grey started thinking for a moment before he spoke up. "The thing with the ladies could be a distraction." He pointed out.

"True." Cobalt nodded. "But thankfully, we have someone we can ask about that." The man tapped his Scroll once more and Grey's mismatched coloured eyes look back his own when he heard it beep.

Grey saw an image of Junior walking down the street. Beside him there was another teen with spiky black hair with crystal blue eyes and wearing some kind of uniform. In the picture, they were both carrying items from the grocery store and the teen looked like was talking to Junior like they were the best of friends while Junior looked like he's ignoring him.

"The other guy looks like a complete pushover." Grey idly commented.

"This picture was taken not long ago. My informant told me that the other teen has been noted to being rather close with Junior as of late as well as the two ladies. So in short, I want him brought back alive for interrogation. Preferably today."

"I dunno." Grey said uncertainly. "He could be important if Junior is all buddy buddy with him."

"We did a background check on him and I've even sent someone to spy on him for a while now and so far, all that turned up was that he's more or less your typical civilian. He's nobody important I assure you. The only reason why Junior even pays attention to him is that he is working under that green haired woman at her cafe." Cobalt told him.

"A cafe?" Grey inquired.

"Yes. At any rate, even if he wasn't involve with any dealings with the underworld he should at least know something about why Hui had his son running errands for those women." Cobalt told him as he put away his Scroll.

"What if they came looking for him when he goes missing?"

"Then make sure you don't leave any trail for them to follow." Cobalt told him as if stating the obvious. "You may leave now Grey and do bring back some promising results." The man waved the teen off.

Irritated at the almost impossible task he was given, Gray stood up and turn around to leave. Just as he reached the door, he turn his head back and asked a single question that he should've asked from the beginning. "By the way, why is it so dark in here?"

"The bulb died." Cobalt answered simply.

"Oh." Grey simply said before he left, slamming down on the door hard on his way out.

 **-0-**

 **Chapter End**

 **-0-**

 **AN: Hey, thanks for reading. Yes, I know, it felt rushed at the end there and I'm sorry for that.**

 **Anyway, criticism is always appreciated and flames will be used as fuel for my story forge. And if any of you are wondering just why Kali is working there or other things like who those dudes at the end were, it will be revealed in due time. For now, this is where I sign off.**

 **See you next time.**


End file.
